Reading of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone
by hpismypastpresentandfuture
Summary: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Lupin, Dumbledore, the Weasleys, Neville, Luna, Snape and Draco are all transported to a room, during the summer before 5ht year, where they will have to read the Harry Potter Series in hope that it will help towards a better future. Read the story with the Harry Potter Characters!
1. Chapter 1: the boy who lived

**A/N: This is the first chapter. Pleas R & R!**

**Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling**

**CHAPTER ONE**

**THE BOY WHO LIVED**

Harry Potter was lying down in his dark bedroom in number four, Privet Drive. It had been two weeks since he left Hogwarts and since Voldemort came back, yet still he knew nothing. Ron and Hermione had only sent him two letters so far, not saying anything "in case the letters were intercepted" and Sirius was downright useless at the moment. "Don't do anything rash Harry. Keep your head down Harry. I'll tell you more when I see you Harry!" 'More like stay locked up in your bedroom Harry,' Harry thought. It infuriated him that no one told him anything! He longed to see his two friends and godfather to get answers. But no he was going to stay here until someone came to get him.

Then all of a sudden there was a 'pop' and he was transported in a strange room. Before he could speculate what happened there was another 'pop' and along came Ron. Pop Hermione. Pop Dumbledore. Pop Ginny, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie and mr and mrs Weasley. Before they could even say hello there was another pop that brought Sirius, Remus, Professor McGonagal, Neville, a pale haired girl wearing radish earrings, and a woman with purple hair that Harry did not know. Finally it seemed as if the popping had stopped and everyone stared at each other. Finally, Harry broke the silence and ran at his godfather

"Sirius!" he said forgetting all his bitter thoughts from earlier.

"Harry! How are you?" Sirius said clearly worried as he hugged his godson.

"Good-"

"Ahem" the woman with the now purple hair interrupted. "Excuse me. But where are we Dumbledore?"

"I have no idea my dear Nymphadora"

"How many times do I have to tell you people" Nymphadora said indignantly" don't call me Nymphadora, its Tonks. Not Dora not Nymphie or whatever else you can come up with-"

"Nymphie?" George snorted.

"Stop getting so angry Nymphie" Sirius said his mouth twitching.

They all laughed. Apparently everyone in the room except for Harry, Neville, and the radish girl knew Tonks. Harry decided he liked her she seemed like a good person.

As the laughter died down there was a late pop which signaled. To the displeasure of Harry, Hermione, Neville and the Weasleys, the arrival of Snape, Draco, and Percy.

"You!" Bill hissed at Percy as the rest of the family looked furious. At the same time Draco, Ron, and Harry had pulled out their wands.

"Please everyone sit down. Potter Malfoy Weasley put away those wands." McGonagal said in sharp voice. Everyone obeyed her and sat down on the comfy red sofas (an embarrassed Percy sitting the farthest away from his family). Arthur looked as if he could break something and mrs Weasley had tears in her eyes as they looked at their third son. There was an awkward silence with no one knowing what to say.

"So Ginny" radish girl said dreamily breaking the tension "how are your holidays going?"

Ginny almost smiled "not bad Luna. How about you?"

"It's going splendid actually. Daddy and I are going to go look for crumple horned Snorkacks in August."

"What the bloody hells that?" Draco sneered

Luna opened her mouth, probably to tell him what it was, but all of a sudden there was a bright blue light and a note appeared on the table. Hermione was the fire to grab it and read in a clear voice:

_Hello Everyone!_

_You're all probably really confused why you're here. Well we have brought you here so you can read some books about your past and future in hope that the world will be better in the next few years once you had read them. They were written by a Muggle author we confounded, you will see that everything will be from a Muggle point of view so just bear with her. Also we put a charm on her that will allow her to see in to your mind for Harry so everyone will know what you were thinking._

Harry gulped. Thinking about Cho.

_You will remember everything from the books. Yes it will make huge changes but with everything that happened in the future it really couldn't get any worse. Time has back home in a way stopped. No one knows you are gone. There are bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs and a kitchen with everything you will need through the door on your right. Here are your books_

A case with 7 sections appeared with only the first shelf visible. On the shelf there was a book visible.

_There are seven of them and when you finish a book, the next shelf will open. Pay close attention to these books because they are the key to a brighter tomorrow. Draco,_

Everyone looked at said person

_you won't want to listen but you have to. Your future isn't too bright so you have to pay attention._

Draco gulped

_Well that's it then. Happy reading! The future of our world rests on your shoulders._

_Sincerely,_

_JP, LP, SB, CD, FW, RL, NT, CC_

_Ps. Harry you might need to take their wands at times. You'll see soon enough that these people will know more than they want you to know._

A new silence filled the room. What was going to be so bad about these books? What did Harry not want them to know?

"So who are these people?" asked Charlie

"I have absolutely no idea Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore answered

"Well I guess we should start reading then" Harry said picking up the book. He had a pretty good idea who these people were but wished with all his might that he was wrong. "Harry Potter and the philosophers stone." he groaned, great a book about him

"Ooh the famous potter gets his own Series of books" Draco sneered

"Shove off Malfoy, you're just jealous" Ron said

Before Draco could make a retort Molly spoke up "Boys that's enough. I will not have you fight thought all the books. We're going to be staying here for at least a month and it's time you learn to get along. All the Hogwarts students stared at her but stayed quiet. "Go on Harry dear" she said after shooting one last glance at Ron.

Harry cleared his throat and read:

**THE BOY WHO LIVED**

"Ooh so we get to hear how you survived" Hermione squealed excitedly jumping up and down causing Ron to snigger then get hit. However Harry's eyebrows furrowed. This is before Hogwarts. Will they hear about his life before? About his cupboard... No definitely not. Molly, Remus, and Sirius would go crazy...

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"You're welcome" The teenagers chimed.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

Molly's eyes narrowed at this. No matter how much she denied it, she never liked these people

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What are drills?" Ron and Lupin asked at the same time

"Um they're tools that muggles use to make holes in wall and stuff" Hermione answered, not knowing how to explain at all. Ron still looked confused but Arthur seemed excited.

"How exactly…" but stopped at the look on his wife's face "Actually, maybe later Hermione"

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.**

"Attractive" Ginny snorted

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

"What a horrible woman!" McGonagal remarked as George and Fred catcalled

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

"Finer boy my foot" Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione who were sitting beside him looking sympathetic. Ginny also heard and raised her eyebrows in question, but never said anything

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.**

"Well tough luck mates we're about to find out" Sirius said in a singing voice.

"Shut up Black" Snape said

**They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"WHAT!" Lupin, Sirius and Molly yelled. The rest of the room looked stunned. What was wrong with the Potters?

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

"Well who would want to be dursleyish?" Bill wondered out loud

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what?" Molly said dangerously. She didn't like this. What were they going to do to the boy whom they hated so much?

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

"Why would anyone purposely be boring?" Draco asked, genuinely disgusted by the Dursleys. But then scowled and sat further down his chair.

"I don't know ask them" replied Harry

"More like just ask Percy" Fred sniggered at a glowering Percy.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"He was like that since he was a baby?" Ron whispered

"Yeah, since birth I guess" Harry whispered back

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"Well that's normal isn't it?" Draco asked

"Not to Muggles no. They have different ways to send post" Tonks said

"Stupid Muggles"

"Not stupid, just different"

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.**

"A horrid child" McGonagal remarked shaking her head

**"Little tyke,"**

"LITTLE TYKE?" Arthur and Molly exclaimed. If any of their children threw a tantrum they wouldn't be called 'little tyke'

**chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.**

"A what?" Charlie asked

"It's McGonagal" Sirius predicted staring at stern look she was giving him.

"Nah."

"Want to bet"

"Sure. 2 Galleons it isn't McGongal"

"You're on"

"You will not bet in front of my children Sirius." Molly said furiously. But when she turned around to look at Harry again, they signaled to each other that the bet was still on.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no, _looking_ at the sign; cats couldn't read maps _or_ signs.**

"Damn it" Charlie muttered. It seemed more and more like her.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

Draco opened his mouth but Hermione cut him off. "Muggles don't wear cloaks, Malfoy"

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!**

"Albus," Molly said looking at Dumbledore, "They should be more careful shouldn't they?"

"Yes Molly, but I think that this day was a day to be celebrated. No one cared very much about the statue of secrecy."

"Well they should have, the muggles could have found out." McGonagal said disapprovingly

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt —these people were obviously collecting for something…yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. _He_ didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"What were they thinking?" Arthur said holding his forehead. They could have been found that day.

**Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"He has a wonderful life doesn't he?"

**He'd for gotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —"**

**" — yes, their son, Harry —"**

Everyone except Percy, Snape and Malfoy looked sadly at Harry. However no one noticed the cloudiness in Snapes eyes.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking…no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter**

"No in the wizarding world. There is only one Potter" Lupin said wisely looking at a red Harry

"But he's a Muggle remember?" Hermione pointed out to Lupin who was now also blushing

**who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew _was_ called Harry.**

"They never knew your name?" Neville said surprised. But Harry just shrugged

**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"Ha-ha, Harold" George snorted

"Shut up!"

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if _he'd_ had a sister like that…but all the same, those people in cloaks…**

"Well his sisters a lot worse if you ask me." Harry muttered

"At least you set her right" Ron sniggered. Ginny looked even more suspicious. Oh well she'll figure it out.

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare,**

"Flitwick!"

**"Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

"What's he doing going off calling people muggles? I thought he had more sense" Molly said

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

Everyone except Molly, McGonagal, and Snape laughed imagining that happen. Even Dumbledore chuckled.

"Good old Flitwick" Sirius barked

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was.**

"That's you" Luna said speaking up for the first time, pointing at the book.

**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"Don't—"

"Approve—"

"Of—"

"Imagination?" The twins shuddered

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood**

**— was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"Definitely McGonagal" Ron said with a bemused expression as he looked at his grumbling older brother.

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

"Not going to woooork" Sirius sang

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior?**

"Nope, it's normal McGonagal behavior" Bill said as McGonagal gave him a stern look

**Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Typical"

"Do you know what his first word was Harry?" Ginny asked

"Yeah. It was Gimmee" Harry snorted.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted,"**

"That's my dad" Tonks said excitedly. Her father said he was a muggle weatherman back then.

**said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars!**

"Probably Dedalus Diggle, he never had any sense" McGonagal said with a sniff

**Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters.…**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"That's awful" Molly said. Her two brothers died and she valued having siblings over most things. And here was the sister of a splendid woman who wanted nothing to do with her.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls…shooting stars…and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today.…"**

**" _So?_" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought…maybe…it was something to do with…you know… _her_crowd."**

"Her crowd?" Bill asked

"Are we just a big crowd to them? I mean it's not like we have our own world or anything" Fred said sarcastically

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"It's not a nasty name!" Ginny exclaimed before blushing and looking down as Harry looked up at her and whispered "Thanks".

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did...if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

"Muggles really are crazy aren't they? I mean look at Granger…"

The Weasley boys, Neville and Harry stood up and pulled out their wands.

"Hermione is a witch" Ron said dangerously

"Sit down boys. Mr. Malfoy if I hear one more remark like this in this room, you will be in trouble. Now keep them to yourself"

Glowering, the boys sat down. "Thanks guys" Hermione said.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters _were _involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind...He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on — he yawned and turned over — it couldn't affect _them_ .…**

**How very wrong he was.**

"Of course he's wrong, he's him isn't he?"

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

"It was quite tiring, sitting on that wall all day." McGonagal sighed

"HA it was her" Sirius said collecting his winnings from Charlie

"Why were you sitting there the whole time anyways?" Charlie asked

"You'll probably hear it in a bit Mr. Weasley"

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

"Dumbledore" the twins said simply

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

Though no one noticed, Dumbledore's eyes lost a bit of their twinkle at this

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"Whoo!" The Twins yelled

"Boys!"

"Sorry mum"

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

Dumbledore chuckled, he did realize.

H**e was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

"Cool!" Ron said. And Dumbledore smiled. Yes his plan may be a good one.

**He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,**

"I doubt that's what it's called."

**until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"Yes I probably would"

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

"Imagine McGonagal partying!" Sirius said, as all the Hogwarts students groaned.

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, I've celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no —even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls…shooting stars…Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"You just said that Professor!"

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

"So true" Lupin nodded

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really _has_ gone, Dumbledore?"**

Everyone, even Malfoy looked up at him. Except for Percy, they all believed he was back

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

**"A _what_ ?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"You're awesome, did you know that professor?" The twins said to Dumbledore

"Thank you boys."

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.**

"No it really isn't Albus" Arthur chuckled

**"As I say, even if You-Know-Who _has_ gone —"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: _Voldemort_ ." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

The whole room shuddered and Harry rolled his eyes. "Will we have to say you-know-whos name when we read it professor? Ron asked frightened.

"Yes you will" Dumbledore said firmly

**"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, _Voldemort_ , was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too — well — _noble_ to use them."**

"Too true"

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

The room burst out laughing

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said "The owls are nothing next to the _rumors_ that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

The laughing stopped suddenly, and an odd chill filled the room

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

"I hate it when he does that" Harry muttered

**"What they're _saying_ ," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — _dead _."**

An icy silence filled the room. Lupin, Sirius, McGonagal, Molly and even Snape (though nobody noticed) had tears in their eyes. It was hard for Harry to read this. "Harry do you want—" Hermione asked. "No I can do it"

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James…I can't believe it…I didn't want to believe it…Oh, Albus…"**

"I never knew you cared" Sirius said smiling weakly

"Of course I care Black" She replied trying to get her sharp voice back in tact

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know…I know…" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone."**

The room stared at Harry as he turned a bright shade of red. But forcedly started reading again so that no one could comment

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's — it's _true_ ?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done…all the people he's killed…he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding…of all the things to stop him…but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

Harry stopped reading "But you do know don't you, sir?"

"Yes I do Harry, however I feel like it will be revealed throughout the books. So we shall wait"

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me _why_ you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

**"You don't mean – you _can't_ mean the people who live _here_ ?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"I wish you had listened to her" Harry said, but Dumbledore simply looked at him sadly. Oh the sacrifices the boy had to make at such a young age, but it was for his protection. It was the right thing to do, he was sure of it. The rest of the room simply looked curiously at the two of them.

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter? Albus you can't explain everything in a letter!" Lupin cried. He feared for Harry. What were they going to do to his cub?

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future**

The twins and Ron sniggered as Harry whispered "No, please no." He hated his fame so much. Why did people not realize it?

Snape and Draco were also having mixed feelings. They had thought that Harry had always liked the attention. They were confused. This was Potter, he had everything, and he was arrogant and stupid. No they couldn't feel sympathy. Draco quickly looked at his favorite teacher and back, feeling that he was probably thinking the same thing.

**— there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!"**

"Why did you have to say that professor?" Harry groaned

Snape looked at the boy again. Maybe the boy was more like lily then he thought.

**"Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"You better not" Molly said sternly.

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

"Yay! Hagrid!"

"Clumsy oaf" Draco muttered but yet everyone still seemed to hear him.

"Shut it Malfoy" Neville said but quickly sunk back into the chair as Malfoy gave him an intimidating look.

Longbottom shouldn't be standing up to me, Draco thought, this isn't right, I hate this room, I hate these people, it isn't fair!

**"You think it — _wise_ — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life" Harry said strongly

"Well technically you did mate" Ron sniggered

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"My motorbike!" Sirius said excitedly "Did you like it pup?" but then his face darkened as he remembered the rest of the events of that night

"I was one remember Sirius" Harry said laughing, trying to ease his godfathers tension

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so _wild_ — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"Aww" the women in the room cooed

"You were the cutest baby Potter" McGonagal said with one of her rare smiles. Harry looked at his shoes, embarrassed

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

The room flinched

**"Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."**

"Cool!" the twins said

Snape was thoughtful. This explained a lot

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

Harry smiled.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it —Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep,**

"You left him on the doorstep!" Molly shrieked. Sirius, and Lupin were just too stunned to say anything.

"I had my reasons Molly." Dumbledore said quietly

**took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

"I never did get my bike back" Sirius grumbled

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on,**

"Aww" They all cooed once again

**not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley...**

Everyone growled at this

**He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"**

"That's the end of the chapter" Harry said throwing the book on the table. "I think we should go in clockwise order." Hermione said picking up the book.


	2. Chapter 2: the vanishing glass

**A/N Hey guys. Sorry it wasn't bolded earlier, see it was bolded on my word document but I don't know what happened to it when it went on the website. Tell me what you guys thing. Is it good, bad? What do you guys like or dislike? Please R&R! **

**Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling!**

**CHAPTER TWO**

**THE VANISHING GLASS**

Hermione picked up the book and read with a smile:

**The vanishing glass**

"The what?" Sirius asked

"You'll see" Harry smiled mysteriously.

"Humph" Sirius hated it when Harry did that

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. **

"Really? Our house changes all the time!" Ginny noted

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. **

"How boring! Harry how'd you manage to live there?" Tonks said, her hair changing to a soft brown.

"I had other things to worry about besides the state of the living room" he muttered. Curious expressions were passed around but he didn't care. He was worried. The cupboard part was soon, he knew it.

**Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets**

The Weasley boys snorted

— **but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too. **

Molly's eyes narrowed and Sirius groweled. His dog features showing. Harry had a sudden idea.

"Everyone give me your wands. Well everyone except Professor Dumbledore, Snape—"

"Professor Snape, Potter"

"—Whatever, and Malfoy."

He reached his hands out but no one gave them.

"Look I have a feeling you won't really like the rest of the chapter so I need your wands. I promise I'll give them back when the coasts clear" he smiled

Grumbling, and curious they gave their wands to Harry, who put them on the table in front of him.

"Continue please Hermione"

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day. **

"**Up! Get up! Now!" **

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. **

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before. **

"You remembered?" Lupin said shocked

"Yeah" he shroughed back

**His aunt was back outside the door. **

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded. **

"**Nearly," said Harry. **

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

"Ew don't go Harry"

**Harry groaned. **

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door. **

"**Nothing, nothing…" **

**Dudley's birthday — how could he have forgotten? **

"You forgot his birthday Harry?" Hermione scolded, he simply grinned back

**Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, **

"Ew Harry! Did your bedroom have that many spiders in it?" Ron shivered. He didn't notice his best friend wince at what was coming.

**put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, **

"And why does that matter?" Molly said, a bad feeling in her gut

**and that was where he slept. **

"WHAT?" All the adults minus Snape and Dumbledore jumped and tried to pull out their wands, only to realize that Harry had took them. " GIVE ME MY WAND BACK HARRY! I WILL MURDER THEM!" they all yelled at the same time. But Harry pointedly stared at the wall, not daring to look at anyone

Sirius went over to a wall and punched it. Arthur started to pace the room as Tonks turned her hair an angry red and tried to calm Sirius down. McGonagal clutched her heart and looked as if she was ready to murder, Molly ran to Harry and gave him a hug. Ron, and Hermione stared at Harry, they couldn't be believe he hadn't told them. The rest of the Wealseys, Neville and Luna looked horrified. Lupin fell down on his sofa and held his head in his hands. Snape was having horrible thoughts. He knew Petunia. How could she do that to her own nephew? He realised that Harrys home life was even worse than his was, maybe. He started to feel sympathetic. And that was something he was never able to feel towards the boy. Draco also was having weird thoughts. He always thought that the famous Potter always had the best life. But this. No one deserved what happened to him. He looked at Harry, who seemed to notice him, and gave him a stiff nod that he hoped Potter would interpret as a sympathetic one. Percy too was feeling weird. Potter was a liar, he couldn't feel bad for the boy that was against the ministy, could he?

As Molly sat back down with tears falling down her face, Hermione, and to Harry's surprise, Ginny held his hands. Ron spoke up.

"Why didn't you tell us mate? We're your best friends" Ron said weakly. When Harry never said anything, Ron got up and gave his best mate, no brother, a hug.

"Why didn't you do anything Dumbledore" Lupin said quielty "Didn't you know? Why did you leave him with those, those animals?" His voice was calm but deadlier with each word. Everyone in the room felt the same thing. It was Dumbledores fault.

"I never knew Remus. I promise you. But I had to keep him there, I had my reasons" He spoke the last sentence rather fiercly. Desperate for them to understand

"So it's ok if he was abused" Sirius said furiously "He's not going back. I am his godfather and therefore I shall take care of him."

"No—" Dumbledore started bowing his head, but Harry thought it would be best if he could help his headmaster

"Look Sirius, what happened, happened."

"But they kept you in there for 10 years so far!"

"Look I get a bedroom in a couple of months, just watch"

"So? They still abused an innocent child"

"Look, I wish it never happened, but it did. And now it's over! So stop it!" He glared at all of them but then decided to smile

"Thank you all for your concern. I appreciate it more than anything. But these people were horrible to me and I would like it if you didn't start raging. It's my life. And if I deal with it, well you can bear listening to it.

"But Harry— " Molly said

"No Mrs. Weasley. I love you all. And I found my true family with you guys. Thank you. And don't worry about it." He said fiercly. And then having enough with the conversation signaled to Hermione to keep reading who did so with a voice still shaking with anger.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, **

"Computer?" Arthur asked

"It's a device that Muggles play games with" Hermione answered softly

**not to mention the second television and the racing bike. **

"What does—" Arthur started again. But deciede against it by the looks of annoyance he was getting from his wife.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — **

"Vey nice description" Fred said. The kid and his parents deserved any hate they could get.

**unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, **

Sirius jumped, but sat back down again looking at Harry's face.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast. **

"Good for you pup" Sirius said "The seeker in you is showing"

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. **

"Nah, James was like that too" Lupin chuckled

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. **

Again there was a dark silence before Hermione started reading

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. **

"You actually liked it?" Ron asked incredulously

"Well that's before I knew what it was. I think I thought it was something that was different and tied me to something that I didn't know."

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it. **

"**In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

"JAMES AND LILY DIE IN A CAR CRASH?" the room roared

_**Don't ask questions**_**— that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. **

"Well how do you expect them to learn?" Arthur asked

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon. **

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting. **

"Not going to work!" Sirius sang. Trying his best to be relaxed again.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.**

Exaclty like James

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel **

**Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. **

"Nice one Harry! " The twins yelled

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. **

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year." **

"Thirty-six presents?" The weasley children said

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy." **

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over. **

"Tantrum?" Molly shrieked "The ungrateful little git!" Her children looked at her as if she had grown another arm. She never swore, but she didn't care. She and Arthur gave everything they could to their children, and here was a child who was having a tantrum that he had only 37 presents.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another **_**two**_** presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? **_**Two**_** more presents. Is that all right" **

"That is no way to deal with your children" Arthur said shaking his head

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty...thirty..." **

"Can't even count" Neville snorted

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia. **

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then." **

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. **

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"They're encouraging him!" Molly said "That is no way to teach children"

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried. **

"Oh what worried her?"

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction. **

"Don't they notice your there?" Draco asked clearly dumbfounded by these people that he forgot to be rude.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg,**

"You mean Arabella Figg from the order?" Tonks asked

"Yes the very one." He saw the look on Harry's face "Mrs. Figg is a squib Harry. I had her stationed there after you moved there. To keep an eye on you"

Harry grunted. Why did no one tell him anything?

**a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned. **

"I apologize about that Harry. She is a pleasant woman, but I told her to keep you bored or the Dursley's would never let you come. But I think she went a bit too far." Dumbledore chuckled

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again. **

"Harry!" Molly scolded

"Sorry" he smiled as Ron sniggered

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested. **

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy." **

"Isn't that the aunt you blew up?" Ron whispered

"The very one" Harry whispered back

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there — or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug. **

"Slug? Really Harry?" George snorted

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?" **

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia. **

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer). **

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. **

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled. **

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening. **

"Yeah Aunt Petunia, he promises!" The twins chanted

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "…and leave him in the car…" **

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone.…" **

"Oh for heaven sake!" Molly exclaimed

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted. **

"Git"

"**Dinky Duddydums, **

The teenagers snorted

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him. **

"**I…don't…want…him…t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. **

"Idiot" Ginny muttered

**Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. **

"Can I hit him already" Charlie asked

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside. **

"Don't touch him Dursley" Lupin growled, the face of a werewolf showing more and more throughout this chapter.

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas." **

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…" **

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. **

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. **

"Ooh accidental magic! What did you do Harry?" Hermione asked. She wanted to see what other people did and what their reactions were

"You'll see"

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he **_**couldn't**_** explain how it had grown back so quickly. **

"Of course she couldn't"

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).**

"Ew that's disgusting"

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, **

"Brilliant Harry !"

**but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished. **

"When I get my hands on that woman!" Molly said threateningly. Harry was like her son. How could anyone do this to him

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. **

"Harry what were you doing up there?" Lupin said chuckling

**Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when,**

The room hissed

**as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump. **

"You know with your size that may be possible Harry." Fred winked at a now pouting Harry

"But its magic, you should know that" George added

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. **

"Everything goes wrong doesn't it?" Sirius sighed and Harry nodded sadly. Everything always did go wrong with him

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room. **

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles. **

"He loves you doesn't he Harry?" Bill sniggered. But stopped at once from a look on his mothers face

"…**roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them. **

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." **

"Oh cub" Lupin said smacking his forehead "You shouldn't have said that, he'll go crazy"

"Sorry" Harry said sheepishly

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: **

"Harry, your descriptions are am-a-z-ing!" George yelled

"**MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" **

"Yes some do, fattie"

**Dudley and Piers sniggered. **

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream." **

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas. **

"They never did fix that problem did they?" Ron whispered his mouth twitching. Harry pouted. His ideas weren't that dangerous… ok maybe they were

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. **

"Whats a zoo?" Malfoy said suddenly. He stop himself from asking

"A place where muggle children go to look at animals for fun" Hermione said

"Oh"

**The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. **

"At least it's something" Molly said weakly

**It wasn't bad, either, **

"Always so grateful" Molly added fondly

"I never had much so I appreciated whatever I got" Harry shrugged at the looks of sadness he was getting. Even Malfoy had trouble covering up his sympathy. What was wrong with him? He was supposed to hate Potter!

**Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond. **

"Harry!" Molly scolded half-heartedly

"Amazing!" Sirius barked doubling over in laughter

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. **

It was strange how the faces of happiness and laughter in the room suddenly became livid

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, **

"Brat" Ginny muttered

**Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. **

"Whoo!" the twins yelled. But lupin looked worried. Everything was going too well. It wasn't good

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last. **

"Here we go" Lupin muttered to Sirius who knew immediately that something wrong was going to happen.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. **

"You're a parselmouth aren't you harry?" Luna asked "I heard about it in my first year. I just didn't know if it were true or not."

Everyone who didn't know stared dumbfounded. "Yes Luna I am" Harry said ignoring them. "When Voldemort tried to kill me, he put some of his powers into myself. And parselmouth was one of them" He looked at Dumbledore who nodded in agreement and said "You may continue Ms. Granger"

**Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep. **

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. **

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. **

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on. **

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. **

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house. **

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

_**It winked. **_

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. **

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

"_**I get that all the time." **_

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying." **

**The snake nodded vigorously. **

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked. **

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. **

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil. **

"**Was it nice there?" **

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?" **

"You spoke to a boa constrictor about how he never went to brazil?" Charlie asked incredulously.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" **

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could. **

"Like a penguin" Ron snorted

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. **

Once again the room hissed. What a bully

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. **

"What did you do?" Sirius asked sitting up, amused, yet worried about how much trouble Harry would be in

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. **

Gasps sounded the room

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. **

"Harry that was dangerous!" Hermione said sternly, interrupting herself

"Sorry mum.—oi!" He replied as she punched him

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come.… Thanksss, amigo." **

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. **

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?" **

"It disappeared" Fred said eerily "oooohhhh!"

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. **

"Lying buffoons"

**But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?" **

"Shut up kid!" Sirius yelled

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," **

"NO MEALS?" the wealsey boys yelled, astounded at the mans cruelty

**before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food. **

Molly looked sadly at him. How she would love to take him in… but no Dumbledore would never have it.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. **

Sirius and Lupin growled

**He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. **

Arthur gasped. "You remember?" Harry only nodded sadly

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. **

"Stupid, filthy, lying muggles

**He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. **

"You know Dumbledore, we have to talk" Sirius said fiercly. Molly and Lupin nodded beside him. But they all knew their was no choice, Harry was going to stay there.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, **

"I could have done that if it wasn't for Pettigrew" Sirius growled.

**but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look. **

"Of course, they apparate"

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"That's the end." Hermione said sadly, handing the book to Ron, hoping that the next chapter would be better.


	3. Chapter 3: Letters from no one

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long, I'm going to be very busy this month so I'll probably post a chapter a week. Please tell me what you all think. Is there anything you want me to add maybe? **

**Harry Potter is J.K Rowling's work. **

**CHAPTER THREE **

**LETTERS FROM NO ONE**

"I'm hungry" Ron said suddenly

"me too. Let's eat" Sirius agreed

"Ok. It's 3 o'clock and I don't think anyone eat lunch?" Molly asked the room who were all shaking their heads. She got up, "I'll get started on the cooking wild you guys read the next chapter"

"cheers mum" Ron said picking up the book and grinning at the title

"**letters from no one" **

"Yay you get your Hogwarts letter!" Tonks cheered. Harry smiled, if only it were as easy as that

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. **

Sirius growled at this

**By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started **

**"**What that long?" lupin shouted. Harry just shrugged uncaringly

**and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches. **

"Poor old Figgie"

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. **

"Harry you really are amazing" Fred choked through his tears of laughter

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting. **

The laughter died down and most people replaced it with snarls

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around**

"they left you wander around by yourself? At 10?" lupin asked incredulously

**and thinking about the end of the holidays, **

"Who actually wants the holidays to end? Who would be such a nerd?" Fred asked in a mocking tone

"Uh..." George said pretending to think "Harry!" he concluded in a mock triumphant voice

"Boys" Molly called from the kitchen. That shut them up

**where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. **

"Oh…" the twins said in unison slightly ashamed of themselves

**Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings.**

"What?" Sirius choked. "Why on earth would a school be called 'smeltings' sorry, but I'd rather not go"

**Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny. **

"There's nothing funny about that, and anyways he's going to Hogwarts" Sirius said. And Lupin growled. They were sending Harry to the cheapest school they could find. Sure it was better because Dudley wasn't there, but still…

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?" **

"Don't you dare ikle dudikins" George warned

"**No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said. **

"Harry!" Fred said surprised, "who knew you were a joker too?"

"Yeah mate, we always thought that you were serious and never liked to have fun." His twin added. Harry scowled "First of all he's Sirius," pointing at a laughing Sirius "and I like to have fun. Its just that my life hasn't let me yet" muttering the last sentence so only Ron and Hermione could hear him. They both looked at their best friend sadly.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. **

"She never was fond of them pup"

**She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years. **

"She gives that to everyone!" Sirius exclaimed "I was round her house the a couple of months ago, she gave me the same thing. I don't think it's stale, she just cooks it that way."

Harry nodded, that made sense.

"Moving past Figgys terrible cooking skills…" Ron said rolling his eyes and continued reading

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. **

"Is that supposed to make him look handsome?" Luna asked

**They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life. **

"Seems like a Dursley type of school"

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. **

"Yes I guess it is Luna" Neville answered her question

**Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

"Good job controlling your emotions Potter" McGonangal said, her mouth twitching. Harry grinned

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water. **

"Ew" Draco said wrinkling his nose so much that it reminded Harry of Narcissa Malfoy

"**What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question. **

"**Your new school uniform," she said. **

"Happy you went to Hogwarts then aren't you Potter?" Draco asked.

Harry considered him. He didn't sound like he was trying to be rude, but he wasn't asking it in a friendly manner either. He just settled with a simple "Yeah"

**Harry looked in the bowl again. **

"**Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet." **

"Ahh… They're so cheeky nowadays" Charlie said, imitating his mother

"I heard that Charlie Weasley" She called back. He smiled.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished." **

"I doubt that" Ginny muttered darkly. She had to get secondhand things at times and they never looked the same

**Harry seriously doubted this, **

"Aww Harry agrees with you Gin" Fred teased

"Shut it" Ginny snarled turning a bright Weasley red as Harry pretended to ignore.

**but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably. **

"Don't worry, you'll get your letter Harry" Hermione said soothingly

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. **

"Well maybe if you bought him some clothes for once, you wouldn't have to smell it!" Snape exclaimed to everyone's surprise. Snape, caring for Harry? Snape scowled and put his face back into impassive mode. There was a strange silence until Ron recovered and started reading again.

**Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. **

**They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. **

"**Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper. **

"At least he makes him do something" Neville said

"**Make Harry get it." **

"**Get the mail, Harry." **

"Or not." Neville finished

"**Make Dudley get it."**

"Ain't gonna work Harry"

"**Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley." **

Everyone's eyes sharpened

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and — _a letter for Harry_ . **

Harry groaned as several people looked excitedly at him. If only he opened it in the hall.

"What is it Harry?" Bill asked noticing Harry's discomfort. Harry just sighed and shook his head "You'll see soon enough."

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives — he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. **

"Did you ever get rude letters Hermione?" Ron interrupted himself.

"No Ronald I didn't"

**Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**The Cupboard under the Stairs**

**4 Privet Drive**

**Little Whinging**

**Surrey **

"You knew where he slept, yet you did nothing?" Sirius said pointing at McGonagall

"No Black I didn't" She replied coldly "There is a charm that writes the proper address, I don't do it myself. I trust the magic" Sirius sat down "If I had known I would have done something by now. I'm not as cold as you think me to be"

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

"Duh, wizards don't use stamps"

"Harry doesn't know that"

"Right"

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter _H_. **

"HOGY HOGY HOGWARTS!" the twins yelled

"SHUT UP!" their mother yelled back

"**Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" **

"Not funny" Fred said rolling his eyes

**He chuckled at his own joke. Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard. "Marge's ill," **

"Good" Harry muttered through his breath

**he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk.…" "Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!" **

"Stupid Dudley"

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, **

"Harry! You should have opened it when you were alone!" Sirius said exasperated

"Sorry" He answered sheepishly

**which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon. "That's _mine_ !" said Harry, trying to snatch it back. **

"Damn it." Tonks muttered "They aren't going to let you read it, right" Tonks said. It was more of a statement not a question. Arthur had a bad feeling in his gut. Something bad was going to happen to his almost son.

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, **

"None of your bloody business Dursley" Sirius growled. He understood what was going to happen

**shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. **

"What an image" George snorted, not sensing the seriousness that was to come

**And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge. **

"Eww."

"That's enough boys"'

"Sorry dad"

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped. **

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. **

"Ahh.. he won't like that" Ron said in an imitation of Trelawney, Harry snorted. Ron shrugged, he was trying to reduce the tension in the air.

**Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise. **

"Is she dying?" Ginny asked hopefully looking at Harry, who simply shook his head also disappointed

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed. It was a good thing she didn't

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!" **

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. **

**Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. **

"Brat"

**He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick. **

"He hit his father!" Arthur asked in disbelief. As if any of his kids had the nerve to _ever _hit him. Never in his life had he ever heard or seen such a bratty child

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly. **

"It's not even yours you stupid lump" Hermione hissed

" **_I _want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's _mine_ ." **

"Yes please give it to him" Sirius said pleadingly, knowing full well that that would never work on these people

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope. **

**Harry didn't move. **

"**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted. **

"**Let _me_ see it!" demanded Dudley. **

"**OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor. **

"C'mon Harry you could have beat him" Charlie grinned

"He was three times my size, he could have simply sat on me and killed me." Harry pointed out to the laughing room.

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address — how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?" **

"**Watching — spying — might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly. **

"Nah, we're just wizards. This is casual charm work Dursley, thought you would know" Tonks said.

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want —" **

"Harry Potter, the boy who lived not go to Hogwarts, as if" Bill grinned and Harry turned red

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen. **

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer…Yes, that's best…we won't do anything…" **

"**But —" **

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

Everyone held his or her breath in anger. How much more was he going to have to deal with these idiots?

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard. **

"Is that supposed to be something nice?" Ginny wondered. Harry shrugged "It was a first.

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?" **

"Typical Harry. Just ask questions"

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it." **

"He was such a horrible liar" Harry laughed

"**It was _not_ a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it." **

"How are you going to get around that, eh Dursley?"

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. **

Ron winced as the twins sniggered"

**He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful. **

"Yeah a complete workout for him isn't it?"

"**Er — yes, Harry — about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking…you're really getting a bit big for it…**

"No," Molly said from the kitchen "You just realized that maybe people would have found out how much of a abusing family you are"

**we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom. **

"At least you get a bedroom" Lupin sighed. He was worried about his friends son. How he wished he could have taken him in. But no, he was a werewolf who could never take care of a child. And Dumbledore had forbidden him to ever go close to Harry. Harry was not to be introduced to wizards until he went to Hogwarts.

"**Why?" said Harry. **

"**Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now." **

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. **

"They had room, yet they still never gave him a bedroom?" Sirius yelled. He hated this.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. **

Harry was getting too many sad looks. More than he could take. He didn't want people to feel bad about him.

**He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched. **

'Thank God I never turned out like him' Harry thought. If Aunt Petunia ever loved him, he'd be a copy of Dudley. It was better the way it was.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, I don't _want_ him in there…I _need _that room…make him get out..." **

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

"Don't worry Harry you'll get it soon enough, I suppose Wracksprusts have invaded you aunt and uncles brain for the last ten years and nested." Luna said to the book and then Harry. "I could get them out of you family if you want Harry" Harry smiled and nodded. Luna definitely was very special and cool.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. **

"Good" Arthur said. Pleased that they were doing some parenting the proper way.

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. **

"Now you think that pup? Slow aren't you?" Sirius said rolling his eyes

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly. **

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive —'" **

"It's going to be very funny from now on" Dumbledore chuckled. He remembered giving the order about the fireplace.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand. **

"Damn. It." Sirius yelled. When would harry get his r

"**Go to your cupboard — I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley — go — just go." **

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? **

"You sound like a detective

**And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"Did it work?" Ron snorted. Harry scowled, not _all_ his plans failed

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights. **

"It's not going to be that easy Harry." Lupin said shaking his head "There's someone already downstairs I'm guessing."

Harry just smiled mysteriously

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door — **

"**AAAAARRRGH!" **

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat — something _alive_ !**

"Big and squashy?" Draco snorted "You really have a strange dictionary Potter" Harry growled at him.

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face. **

"Harry I can't for our descriptions" Fred said jokingly pointing at each one of the people in the room. "Which wizard did you meet first?"

"Apart Hagrid, I think your mum"

Draco sneered "No Potter, remember Diagon Alley?"

"Oh yeah. Not a very good first impression then" Harry sighed dramatically

"Hey!" Draco said angrily and sank back into his chair

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink. **

"**I want —" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes. **

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot. **

"As if that will stop them" McGonagall said her lips curving upwards, it was always fun dealing with these types of situations.

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't _deliver_ them they'll just give up." **

"**I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"Listen to her. Petunia knows more about the wizarding world than you would thing" Snape said, his voice greasy with hate

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"And we're proud of it, thank you very much." Tonks said giggling.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. **

The room laughed

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"Gone crazy, that one has" George said pointing at the book

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor. **

"They should just give in already…" Luna said

"They're too stubborn" Harry replied

"How on earth did they let you come?" Lupin asked. Harry just gave him his stupid mysterious smile.

"**Who on earth wants to talk to _you_ this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"The whole wizarding world was writes to him" Ron said rolling his eyes. Seeing Harry's obvious confusion, Dumbledore added "I stopped the letter from ever getting to you. "Good" Harry muttered, but he was still curious. "Did any of you write me letters?" Looking at all the people born in wizarding families. Most of them except for Malfoy who snorted looked away embarrassed

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. **

"So no good news"

"**No post on Sundays," **

"Like wizards care about stupid muggle rules"

**he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today —" **

"I'm sure you're wrong Dursley… Again" Sirius chuckled

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one —**

"You never got one did you?" Lupin said disappointed, Harry looked sad and shook his head

"**Out! OUT!" **

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor. **

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!" **

**He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. **

"Harry you should really have taken a photograph of him," Fred laughed but then stopped at the look on his fathers face.

**Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"No more than he deserves," Molly said walking into the room. "Lunch is ready, we'll go after this chapter to eat"

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. **

"**Shake 'em off…shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this. **

"Really? Does he actually, seriously think that'll work?" Tonks snorted

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. **

Ron looked horrified, much to Harry's amusement

**By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer. **

"Poor baby" Ginny said rolling her eyes

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering… **

"Stop thinking Harry," George said seriously "It'll only hurt you". Everyone who had experienced whatever happens at Hogwarts when Harry's there laughed. "Oi!" Harry said throwing a cushion at George

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. **

The Weasley boys wrinkled their noses

**They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table. "'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk." She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**Room 17**

**Railview Hotel**

**Cokeworth**

"Stalker much?" Charlie laughed looking at McGonagall who gave him a stern look "Or not" He muttered

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared. "I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon,**

"No don't listen to him!"

**standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

"Damnit"

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage. **

"He's gone mad hasn't he?" Draco said

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

The room laughed as Draco scowled. But then they quieted down when Molly scolded them all for being so rude.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared. **

"I'm worried of what this man will do" Arthur said fearfully, he felt relaxed though when Harry just gave him an encouraging smile.

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled. **

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a _television_ ." **

"By the looks of it, you won't"

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it _was_ Monday — and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television — then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun — last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. **

The room growled once again and then looked sadly at Harry. Snape and Draco was feeling terrible. He didn't want to sympathize with Potter, but it was becoming more and more difficult. Percy too was feeling weird. No person who was treated like harry would do so much harm to the ministry. No, he shook his head, Harry was a lying, self-absorbed brat, that's what the ministry said after all, and they were always right.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day. **

"No you're not" Bill smiled remembering how excited he was when he turned 11.

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought. **

"Seems like a rifle" Hermione muttered, then shook her head at all the people who didn't know what a rifle was.

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!" **

"By perfect I think he means horrible"

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there. **

"Good observations harry!" Fred exclaimed sarcastically at a blushing Harry. Why did he think so strangely?

"**Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!" **

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them. **

"Don't get on the boat!"

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!" **

"Oh thank heavens he thought of getting food" Molly said.

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house. **

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms. **

"What a delightful holiday" Luna said in a different voice. It was dreamy yet harsh, very unluna like.

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. **

Molly groaned, while most people in the room looked horrified at the prospect of this being a dinner.

**He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up. **

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully. **

"Git"

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all. **

"Don't worry Potter," McGonagall said "By this time I informed professor Dumbledore about what was going on." She gave another rare smile "We decided to use a different tactic."

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. **

"You'd make a great auror" Lupin said "You're so attentive to what's going on around you

**Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket. **

Molly started cursing under her breath

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now. **

"Hogwarts"

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow. **

"You'd better"

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea? **

"Go to sleep Harry, there's a storm outside"

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds...twenty…ten…nine — maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him — **

"Do it."

"Boys!" Molly said forcefully looking at fred and george. "This isn't a joke"

**three…two…one… **

**BOOM. **

Ron yelled this last word. Everyone jumped "What it was in capital letters." He shrugged. "Cool!" Sirius said, "From now on, whatever is in capital letters the reader has to yell it."

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"That's the end" Ron said putting the book down and getting up. When everyone looked inquiringly at him he said "What? Foods ready!"


	4. Chapter 4: Keeper of the keys

**Sorry it took so long guys I've been sooooo busy! Anyways here's the chapter! Enjoy! And as always please review!**

**Disclaimer: *NOT MINE* **

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS**

After eating lunch, the crowd returned to their previous positions in the 'living room'.

"My turn I guess" Fred said picking up the book.

Ginny gasped "_you _can read" she said in mock shock. Fred rolled his eyes and started.

**The keeper of the keys**

"Wait why do you meet Hagrid all of a sudden?" Lupin asked

"You'll see" Harry said his eyes twinkling

"Humph" Ron said annoyed "I always thought that I was the first wizard you had a conversation with"

"Nah, Hagrid was first then you."

"No Harry remember kings cross?" Molly asked

"Yeah… so after…"

"No but then -" George started

"Remember your trunk on the train?" Fred finished

"Fine!" Harry exclaimed "Ron, sorry mate, but you were not the first wizard I met."

"Yeah, yeah but I was the first on from our year"

"Yup you were"

Malfoy cleared his throat and sneered "I think you're forgetting someone Potter"

Harry groaned. Of course he met Malfoy at Diagon Alley.

"What?" Ron said exasperatedly "This idiot" pointing at Malfoy "was your first impression of students at Hogwarts"

"Hey" Malfoy said angrily

"Yeah" Harry said rolling his eyes "Not the best first impression I must say."

"Just keep reading Weasley" Malfoy said to furious. He wasn't that bad was he? "Gits" he muttered so only he could hear it

**BOOM. **

Fred yelled this and the room jumped. He sniggered at their reactions

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" **

"Stupid"

**he said stupidly. There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – **

"I knew it!" Hermione said in triumph

**now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them. "Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you — I'm armed!" **

"If he had tried to shoot Hagrid, would it have hurt him? Would muggle weapons even hurt wizards, sir?" Hermione asked Dumbledore curiously

"That's a good question Ms. Granger" He said thoughtfully "Yes, if the wizard or witch doesn't protect themselves with their magic. But if the produce a shield or something of the sort they will be protected. If not, muggle weapons are just as deadly." He looked thoughtful again "For Hagrids case I am not too sure. He may have been protected because of his giants blood, but we may never know"

Hermione nodded in understanding

"How do rifles work?" Ron blurted out the question that was on most non-muggle related peoples mind

"Well" Hermione started "they're a type of weapon that muggles use. It shoots bullet – a little ball type thing made out of metal at a really fast speed. The bullet pierces the skin of the victim and the person shot loses a lot of blood and usually dies." She finished sadly. Everyone was shocked at the muggles ability to create weapons to kill each other. Breaking the silence Fred started reading again

**There was a pause. Then — **

**SMASH!**

The room once again jumped

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor. **

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. **

"You're _really_ observant aren't you Harry?" Tonks said and harry just shrugged

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all. **

"**Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey.…" **

"First thing Hagrid says" Charlie sniggered "_Give me food_"

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear. **

"**Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger. **

The teenagers burst out laughing. "Good old Hagrid" George chocked

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon. **

"Hearts of lions, they have."

"**An' here's Harry!" said the giant. **

"the giant" Hermione said exasperatedly "He's not a giant harry"

"I know _now_" harry said smilingly

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes." **

Sirius and Remus smiled fondly at their best friends son

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise. **

"**I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!" **

"like that'll stop him" Bill snorted

"**Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room. Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on. **

"Don't you think that's a bit much Albus?" Snape asked

"After what they did to Harry, no." McGonagal answered fiercely before Dumbledore could open his mouth

"**Anyway — Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." **

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with **_**Happy Birthday Harry**_** written on it in green icing. **

"How thoughtful" Molly said sadly. She wished so much she could just keep Harry, and never send him back to those monsters.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?" **

"Harry…" molly scolded but only half heartedly

**The giant chuckled. **

"**True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." **

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm. **

"**What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat ****stronger if yeh've got it, mind." **

The 'youngsters' all snorted while Molly sent a death stare towards them

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. **

Dumbledore and McGonagall's eyes narrowed at this but they said nothing

**It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath. **

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, **

Ron's stomach growled. "You just ate Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed. "So? That sounds way too good." He shot back. He then turned to harry "You've got to stop being so damn descriptive mate."

**Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley." **

"Its not poison you idiot"

**The giant chuckled darkly. **

"**Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry." **

"like I said before, good old Hagrid"

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are." **

"Persistent aren't you potter?" Draco sneered

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. **

"**Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts — yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course. **

"**Er — no," said Harry. **

Sirius growled like a dog

**Hagrid looked shocked. **

"**Sorry," Harry said quickly. **

"Sorry?" Remus said shocked?

" _**Sorry**_**?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?" **

"**All what?" asked Harry. **

Molly looked furious. Harry motioned for Fred to keep reading and quickly too. This could get ugly

"**ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!" **

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall. **

"Good" Sirius said "He's scaring them"

"**Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy — this boy! — knows nothin' abou' — about ANYTHING?" **

"That must have sounded encouraging" George joked trying to relieve tension but only in vain.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad. **

"**I know **_**some**_** things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff." **

Everyone smiled at this

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About **_**our**_** world, I mean. **_**Your**_** world. **_**My**_** world. **_**Yer parents' world**_** ." **

"**What world?" **

"That must have pleased Hagrid"

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode. **

"That sounds frightening" Ginny said

"It was"

"**DURSLEY!" he boomed. **

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. **

"Mimblewimble?" tonks snorted evilly

"**But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're **_**famous**_** . You're **_**famous**_** ." **

"**What? My — my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?" **

"Oh harry" Molly said on the verge of tears. He looked at her and also felt tears forming. She really cared about him, almost mother like.

"**Yeh don' know...yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare. **

"**Yeh don' know what yeh **_**are**_** ?" he said finally. **

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice. **

"**Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!" **

"Like you can stop him" Neville snorted

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage. **

"I would never want to see Hagrid angry" Charlie said

"No you wouldn't Mr. Weasley" Dumbledore said, "He is very er – passionate, shall we say"

"**You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?" **

"Son of a – " Sirius started but stopped at the look on Molly's face

"**Kept **_**what**_** from me?" said Harry eagerly. **

"At least you find out now" Remus sighed "After 10 years that is" he finished angrily

"**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic. **

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror. **

"As she would" Snape said coldly to everyone's surprise

"**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry — yer a wizard." **

"How dramatic!"

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard. **

"**I'm a **_**what**_**?" gasped Harry. **

"Did you believe it at once Harry? It took professor McGonagall at least an hour to convince us." Hermione asked

"Not really" he answered "you'll see I expect"

"**A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good 'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter." **

"Too true" Arthur said

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:**

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster:ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall,**

**Deputy Headmistress**

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?" **

"That's your first question pup?" Sirius said. The humour coming back to him

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl — a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl — a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**

**Given Harry his letter. **

**Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**

**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**

**Hagrid**

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone. **

"it's much easier actually" Ron said shaking his head. Harry grinned at his best friend as he clearly remembered the first time Ron tried to call him.

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly. **

"**Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight. **

"**He's not going," he said. **

"they tried to stop you!" Sirius yelled standing up

Remus looked angry too but put a calm hand on Sirius's shoulders "don't worry, he went eventually" Sirius sat back down

**Hagrid grunted. **

"**I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said. **

"Good for you Hagrid"

"**A what?" said Harry, interested. **

"**A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"Harry has too much bad luck. Trust me we know" Ron laughed as he pointed at Hermione, Harry and himself but stopped himself as he saw the curious look on everyone's faces.

"**We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!" **

"_Stamp_ it out?" Molly said dangerously

"**You **_**knew**_** ?" said Harry. "You **_**knew**_** I'm a — a wizard?" **

"Of course they knew!" McGonagall shrieked jumping up and pointing a finger at the book, finally losing control over whatever patience she was keeping.

"**Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. " **_**Knew**_**! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? **

"Shut up you good for nothing muggle!" Sirius yelled, once again on his feet

**Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that — that **_**school**_** — and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. **

"Muggleborns are allowed to show some magic to their families to prove that it's real" Dumbledore said answering the unasked question.

**I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak! **

"Lily was not a freak!" Remus said loudly. He too was now on his feet

**But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" **

"Jealous good for nothing idiot" Snape mumbled

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years. **

"She probably did"

"**Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, **

Snape stiffened slightly but it went unnoticed because everyone else was too furious to notice

**and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as — as — **_**abnormal**_** — **

"Harry is not abnormal" Molly yelled in rage as she stood up and pointed her wand at the book. "Please everyone calm down!" Dumbledore said loudly. Everyone sat down but they were all still fuming.

**and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!" **

They all growled like a pack of angry wolves

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!" **

The growling got so loud that Fred had to raise his voice slightly

"**CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!" **

"**But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently. **

The adults all looked sad. Especially the remaining marauderers.

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious. **

"**I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh — but someone's gotta — yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'." **

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys. **

"**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh — mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it…" **

"Even I don't know some things" Dumbledore said sadly

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with — with a person called — but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows —" **

"**Who?" **

"**Well — I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does." **

"**Why not?" **

"**Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went ...bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..." **

Fred gulped. He was going to have to read it soon.

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out. **

Harry snorted and he could have sworn that Dumbledore rolled his eyes at the book.

"**Could you write it down?" Harry suggested. **

"**Nah — can't spell it. All right — **_**Voldemort**_** . " **

Fred shuddered

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this—this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too — some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches…terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him — an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway. **

"It's a good thing he didn't." McGonagall said gratefully

"**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! **

Sirius and Remus looked proud

**Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before…probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side. **

"They hated the dark arts"

"**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em...maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' — an' —" **

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn. **

"**Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad — knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find — anyway…. **

Molly had enough. She jumped up and ran to Harry and gave him a hug and cried. "I love you dear" she sobbed "I won't let you get hurt again" Harry's own tears threatened to fall as he choked back an "I love you too." He wiped his own tears and sat down as Molly returned to Arthur and cried into his shoulder.

"**You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then — an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing — he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh — took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even — but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age **

**the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts **

Molly wailed harder as she heard about her brothers.

**an' you was only a baby, an' you lived." **

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before — and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh. **

Everyone shuddered

**Hagrid was watching him sadly. **

"**Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…." **

Worst thing you ever did Hagrid." Tonks sighed

"**Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched. **

"go back to your corner and never come back dursley" Ron said threateningly. No one messed with his best friend.

"**Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured**

Molly gasped

— **and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion **

"Shut it!" Half the room yelled

**asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types — just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end —" **

"I'm going to kill that man!" Molly shrieked

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley — I'm warning you — one more word…." **

McGonagall look dangerous. His wand better not be in that umbrella.

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent. **

"Good"

"**That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor. **

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them. **

"**But what happened to Vol-, sorry — I mean, You-Know-Who?" **

"Voldemort, Harry" Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling

"**Good question, Harry. **

"You always have good questions" Hermione sighed. Harry pouted as he got her meaning

**Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see…he was gettin' more an' more powerful — why'd he go? **

"Cuz Harry stopped him"

"**Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back. **

"**Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on — **_**I**_** dunno what it was, no one does — but somethin' about you stumped him, all right." **

"But what was it, is the question" Luna said mysteriously

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? **

Everyone minus Snape and Draco (but their mouths were twitching) laughed

**If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football? **

Sirius looked like he was going to burst again so Fred continued quickly

"**Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard." **

"_You_ not a wizard?"

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled. **

"**Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?" **

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it…every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry…chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach…dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back...and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him? **

"See, you are a wizard" Hermione said soothingly

"Uh Hermione," Harry said "I know that now" Hermione turned a deep scarlet and sank into her seat

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him. **

"He loves you very much Harry" Dumbledore said fondly

"**See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard — you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts." **

"If only I wasn't" Harry mumbled

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight. **

"**Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish — spell books and wands and —" **

"**If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. **

"Right again Hagrid old pal" George said

"**Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled—" **

"**I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon. **

The room looked shocked and furious. Well except for Malfoy that is, it looked like for the first time he agreed with Vernon, though he wasn't going to admit it.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER —" he thundered, "— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE — IN — FRONT — OF — ME!" **

"ooooohhhhh" the twins said

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers. **

Shrieks of laughter were heard around the room. Even Malfoy joined in. but the adults, minus Sirius and remus who thought that Dudley deserved it, looked shocked. "Albus—" McGonagall started "I'll speak to him." Dumbledore answered

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them. Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard. **

"**Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do." **

The laughter grew louder. Even some of the adults joined in. Percy however looked furious. He was going to report this to the minister, he was.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows. **

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm — er — not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff — one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job." **

"**Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry. **

"That's a personal question" molly scolded

"Sorry" Harry said sheepishly

"Harry has a habit of asking to personal questions" Ron said only to receive a punch from the other end of the sofas

"**Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore." **

"Thank you Hagrid" Dumbledore said softly. If only they knew how not so great he was

"**Why were you expelled?" **

"Harry –" Molly started again but was cut off by Fred who really wanted to finish the chapter

"**It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that." **

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry. **

"**You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."**

Ginny wrinkled her nose. "Ew"

"Well that's the end of the chapter." Fred said handing the book to George. The room seemed tense, no one knew how much more surprises they could take from this book


	5. Chapter 5: Diagon Alley

Chapter 5: Diagon alley

**Hey guys! Here's the chapter, it's the longest one yet! As always please review and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: not mine **

George picked up the book, cleared his throat, and read:

**CHAPTER FIVE: DIAGON ALLEY**

"Yay you get to see the wizarding world!" Sirius said gleefully. Everyone else nodded grin spread across their faces as they too remembered the first trip to the village before school. This chapter was going to be better they hopped. They had enough of all the tension

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight. "It was a dream, he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard." **

"You're so negative Harry," Ginny said shaking her head and smiling. Harry noticed she was being more open when talking to him. He liked this Ginny better than the old one.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**_** And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door**_**, Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream. **

**Tap. Tap. Tap. **

"It's an owl." Lupin said

"how much do you want to bet?" Sirius said\

Remus thought for a second. "10 galleons"

"10 galleons!" Sirius said shocked. How could Remus be so sure? "You're on" he said but not too sure of himself anymore. The teenagers' snickered. It was such a stupid thing to bet on but they were sure who was going to win. Molly shook her head, no matter what she said they weren't going to stop, so she might as well not even try.

"**All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up." **

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak. **

"whoo!" Lupin yelled and claimed his winnings from a grumbling Sirius

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. **

"What the heck is wrong with you mate?" Fred asked. Harry blushed. He found it annoying that other people were reading his abnormal thoughts.

**He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat. **

"**Don't do that." **

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat. **

"Just pay it potter" Malfoy said rolling his eyes

"How was I supposed to know what to do" Harry shot back.

"**Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl —" **

"**Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa. **

"**What?" **

"**He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." **

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing **_**but**_** pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags...finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins. **

"They're not strange" Ron said defensively "Muggle money is harder to understand."

Harry snorted

"**Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily. **

"**Knuts?" **

"I thought he meant nuts as in the ones you eat" harry said feeling stupid "I thought Hagrid had gone mad, actually" everyone laughed, the boy who lived was a very strange kid

"**The little bronze ones." **

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window. **

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched. **

"**Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." **

"Yay!"

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture. **

The twins grinned

"**Um — Hagrid?" **

"**Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots. **

"**I haven't got any money — and you heard Uncle Vernon last night…he won't pay for me to go and learn magic." **

"You don't need their filthy money" Sirius growled

"**Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?" **

"**But if their house was destroyed —" **

"Wizards have banks you know…" Malfoy said rollinG his eyes "You're too stupid for your own good Potter."

"Shut it Malfoy"

"**They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither." **

"**Wizards have **_**banks**_** ?" **

"pff no!" Ron said sarcastically "We keep our gold at home with us."

"Okay I get it" Harry said now annoyed

"**Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins." **

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding. **

" _**Goblins**_**?" **

"Yeah you would be mad to rob it" Bill said

"**Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, **

Bill looked at the book in shock while the twins snorted

**I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see." **

"I would trust hagrid with my life" Dumbledore said

Malfoy snorted. He certainly wouldn't trust the oaf with anything.

"**Got everythin'? Come on, then." **

**Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm. **

"**How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat. **

"**Flew," said Hagrid. **

"Flew?" Hermione asked, "Could a broom support his weight?"

" _**Flew**_**?" **

"**Yeah — but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh." **

McGonagall snorted. As if he followed that rule.

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying. **

"what a sight that would be"

"**Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter — er — speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?" "Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land. **

"Dumbledore!" McGonagall cried

"I'll talk to him Minevra"

"**Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked. **

"Why?" Fred started

"Not planning on robbing it are you?" George finished grinning

Harry snorted. "even I'm not that stupid"

"**Spells — enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults. **

"WHAT?!" Charlie yelled turning to his older brother "You never told me! That's terrible, cruel, disgusting. Do you know how horrible it is to keep a dragon locked up?!" Bill looked terrified "I don't know. I'm just a curse-breaker. I don't go into the vaults, whatever needs to be checked comes to me" Charlie huffed and motioned for George to continue

**And then yeh gotta find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat." **

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the **_**Daily Prophet**_** . Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life. **

"I doubt that" Ron said "Harry always has questions—hey!" He yelled the last part as harry hit him in the head

"**Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page. **

"No duh—what else do they do?" Ginny said rolling her eyes earning a death stare from Percy.

"**There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself. **

"'**Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice." **

"Is it true sir?" Harry asked

"Yes. But ever since Voldemorts return I haven't received a single owl"

Percy snorted, the old fool really thought that the minister would need his help?

"**But what does a Ministry of Magic **_**do**_**?" **

"Party all night"

"**Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country." **

"**Why?" **

"You're really stupid potter" Malfoy sneered. Harry just stuck his tongue out at him. "and mature too." Harry could have sworn Malfoy actually smiled.

"_**Why? **_**Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone." **

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street. **

**Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?" **

"oh Hagrid" Molly sighed

"He sounds just like you dad" George said laughingly

"**Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are **_**dragons**_** at Gringotts?" **

Charlie growled

"**Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon." **

"**You'd **_**like**_** one?" **

"so this is where it starts" Charlie said

"Where what starts" Molly asked suspiciously

Ron shook his head frantically as Charlie opened his mouth "You'll find out soon enough I guess"

"**Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go." **

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets. **

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent. **

Laughter sounded the room once more

"**Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches. **

"No he left it at home"

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket. **

"**Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need." **

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read: **

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL o fWITCHCRAFT andWIZARDRY UNIFORM First-year students will require:**

**Three sets of plain work robes (black)**

**One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**

**One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**

**One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**

**COURSE BOOKS All students should have a copy of each of the following: The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk A History of Magicby Bathilda Bagshot Magical Theoryby Adalbert Waffling A Beginners' Guide to Transfigurationby Emeric Switch One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungiby Phyllida Spore Magical Drafts and Potionsby Arsenius Jigger Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themby Newt Scamander The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protectionby Quentin Trimble**

**OTHER EQUIPMENT 1 wand 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) 1 set of glass or crystal phials **

**1 telescope set**

**1 brass scales**

**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**

**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**

"**Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud. **

"If you know where to go" Lupin siad

"**If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

"Good one Moony" Sirius said through tears of laughter as Remus blushed out of embarrassment

**Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow. **

"Oh dear he needs to be careful!" Molly said exasperated

"**I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops. **

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? **

"Anyone else maybe." Neville said "them no."

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him. **

"Hagrids like that. You just have to trust him"

"**This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place." **

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it. **

"that's because it's true" Arthur said wisely

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside. **

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. **

Everyone broke down at this description of tom the bartender. Even the senior Weasley's, Percy and Professors had to hide their amusement. To everyone's surprise though Malfoy was laughing openly

**The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?" **

"**Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle. **

"**Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this — can this be —?" **

"So the embarrassment begins" Harry muttered so only those close to him could hear.

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent. **

"**Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter…what an honor." **

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes. **

"**Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back." **

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming. Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron. **

"Ugh" Harry said rolling his eyes in disgust. There it was again, snape thought, that reminder of lily"

"**Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last." **

"**So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud." **

"**Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter." **

"**Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle." **

"**I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop." "He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more. **

The teenagers snorted as Harry fell more and more into his chair

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. **

"**Professor Quirrell!" **

The trio growled

**said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at **

**Hogwarts." "P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you." **

"I can't believe I never saw through that" Harry muttered to ron and Hermione

"Don't be so hard on yourself. No one else did either" Hermione whispered back

"**What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" **

"**D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought. **

"Coward"

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble. **

"**Must get on — lots ter buy. Come on, Harry." **

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds. **

**Hagrid grinned at Harry. **

"**Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh **

— **mind you, he's usually tremblin'." **

"**Is he always that nervous?" **

"**Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience...They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?" **

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can. **

"You make our world sound so demented" Ron said in mock anger. Harry laughed. So he did.

"**Three up…two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry." **

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. **

**The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. **

"**Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley." **

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall. **

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them. **

"**Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first." **

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. **

"Ewww" Ginny said

"Yeah we wouldn't want our sisters crush to look like a spider would we?" Fred teased. But he realized he shouldn't have said that too late as their was a huge flash and he had boogers coming out of his nose that grew wings like bats and attacked him.

"Ew call them off! I'm sorry ginny" He yelled

"Do the counter curse dear" Molly said sternly but she too thought he deserved it for embarrassing her. In the end she did the counter curse but still looked threateningly towards her brother who never looked so scared in his life

**He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad.…" **

"They are mad" Molly agreed

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand **

— **fastest ever —" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon.… **

"**Gringotts," said Hagrid. **

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was — "Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

**Enter, stranger, but take heed**

**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**

**For those who take, but do not earn,**

**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**

**So if you seek beneath our floors**

**A treasure that was never yours,**

**Thief, you have been warned, beware**

**Of finding more than treasure there.**

"**Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid. A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. **

"Too many goblins!" George yelled

**Hagrid and Harry made for the counter. "Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry **

**Potter's safe." **

"**You have his key, sir?" **

"**Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. **

So did the people in the room

**Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals. **

"**Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key. **

**The goblin looked at it closely. **

"**That seems to be in order." **

"**An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen." **

"That will only make me more curious" Harry sang

**The goblin read the letter carefully. **

"**Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!" **

**Griphook was yet another goblin. **

"what did you expect?"

**Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall. **

"**What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked. **

"He can't tell you Potter" McGonagall said. Even though she knew he would find out, she didn't want him to find out so soon

"**Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that." **

"But he did help us into finding out" Ron sniggered, but quiet enough so his mother wouldn't hear

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off. **

"How dramatic" Tonks said rolling her eyes

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. **

"That's the point. so no one knows how to escape if they manage to steal something" Bill said

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering. **

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, **

Charlie sent a death glare towards Bill who got up and sat beside Fred.

**but too late — they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor. **

"**I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?" **

"**Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. **

"Don't tell me that's your definition now is it?" Hermione said exasperated

"Don't worry. I know the difference" Harry said worried

"Oh really? What is it then?"

"Uh… george start reading" Harry said turning from Hermione and looking at the twin Weasley who was sniggering

"**An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick." **

"Ugh imagine Hagrid throwing up" Luna said disgusted but in a dreamy sort of way

**He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling. **

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts. **

Harry's face burned. He hated the mention of his wealth in front of the Weasleys. But to his relief they were all smiling

"**All yours," smiled Hagrid. **

**All Harry's — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. **

Sirius and Molly looked furious. They'd like to see the dursleys try.

**How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? **

"But they never spent anything on him!" Molly exclaimed

**And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London. **

**Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag. **

"**The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?" **

"Only one speed"

"**One speed only," said Griphook. **

"Why does that keep happening" Bill muttered turning red.

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck. **

"Good" Molly said

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole. **

"that means it's a high security vault"

"**Stand back," said Griphook importantly. **

"He sounds like Percy" Fred joked. Percy looked furious but what did he care what his good for nothing brother said

**He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away. **

"**If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook. **

"**How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked. **

"**About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin. **

"He's creepy" Ginny said shivering

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least — but at first he thought it was empty. **

"That's weird"

**Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask. **

"**Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

Everyone laughed. Good old Hagrid

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life — more money than even Dudley had ever had. **

"Good"

"**Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." **

"He left him all alone to get a drink?" McGonagall asked weakly "Now really albus, someone needs to tell him how to behave" She glared at the teenagers who were sniggering quietly

**He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous. **

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. **

"Good description" Sirius snorted

"**Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact." **

Harry groaned, "enter Malfoy". Malfoy smirked

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face **

"I do not have a pointed face!" Malfoy said indignantly

"Sure…"

**was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. **

"**Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?" **

"**Yes," said Harry. **

"**My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. **

"Humph well I have every right to be bored"

"How was your father looking at wands? It's the wand that chooses the wizard after all," Hermione asked

Draco rolled his eyes "I don't know what he was doing, that's just what he told me"

"**Then I'm going to drag them off to took at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." **

"Brat" Ginny muttered, but loud enough for the whole room to hear

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley. **

"How dare you compare him to me?!" Malfoy yelled

"well it's simple. He's a spoiled git, and so are you" Fred said laughing

"Silence!" Snape said, he had a feeling he would have to defend Malfoy a lot throughout these books. But one talked to his godson like that "Continue reading Weasley

Malfoy huffed. He wasn't as bad as Dudley, but he had a horrible feeling that the books would not show him in a good light

"**Have **_**you**_** got your own broom?" the boy went on. **

"**No," said Harry. **

"**Play Quidditch at all?" **

"**No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be. **

"Only the best thing in the whole world" Ron said in a perfect imitation of luna

" _**I**_**do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. **

**Know what house you'll be in yet?" **

"**No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute. **

Draco smirked. He had that effect on people

"**Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — **

"Which is the reason they are all slimy gits" Ron whispered

**imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" **

"Why?" Tonks said dangerously, turning her hair and eyes red in anger. "What's wrong with Hufflepuff?"

"They're a bunch of loser rejects" Draco sneered

There was a bang and draco turned into a white ferret. The room gave a roar of laughter as they rememebered the incident of last year. Tonks smirked and turned him back. Draco looked terrified as he sank back into his chair growling.

"**Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting. **

"**I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in. **

"That's nice of him" Molly smiled

"**That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts." **

"**Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?" **

"What?!" Hermione yelled standing up

"**He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second. **

"What's there to like?"

"**Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of **_**savage**_** — lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed." **

Now all the Hogwarts going students stood up and pointed their wands at Malfoy. There were two giant bangs as they all shot curses at him and as Dumbledore put up a shield. "Please sit down" he said calmly but in that forceful manner that only Dumbledore had

"**I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly. **

"So do we"

" _**Do **_**you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" **

"Rude"

"**They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy. **

"**Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. **

Sirius growled

"**But they were **_**our**_** kind, weren't they?" **

"What does that mean?" Ron said dangerously

"**They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." **

"**I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. **

This time even Dumbledore couldn't stop the students as they all shot hexes at Malfoy. They never even bothered to fix him because George started reading again, leaving the adults to figure out how to make him look human again

**What's your surname, anyway?" **

"Potter you nitwit" Ginny said "The whole world knows who he is, and you don't?"

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool. **

"**Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy. **

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts). **

"Mmmmm" Ron and Sirius groaned as their stomachs gave loud rumbles.

"**What's up?" said Hagrid. **

"**Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. **

"It sure did"

**When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?" **

"**Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!" **

"Yeah he'd be an outcast if he never knew"

"**Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's. **

"— **and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in " **

"Yeah well he's an idiot, what else is new?"

"**Yer not **_**from**_** a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh **_**were**_** — he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. **

"Yeah but in a bad way cuz his parents were death eaters weren't they?" Ron said out loud

"they still are" Harry said as Snape glared at them.

**You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!" **

"**So what **_**is**_** Quidditch?" **

"**It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules." **

"No it isn't"

"**And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?" **

"Houses"

"**School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —" **

Tonks looked furious, but calmed down as Remus shook his head at her. She realized that only he could make her shut up and she found that weird.

"**I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily. **

"**Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. **

"Truer words were never said"

"**There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one." **

"**Vol-, sorry —You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?" **

"**Years an' years ago," said Hagrid. **

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. **

"Hermiones favorite place in the whole world"

**Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from **_**Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More)**_** by Professor Vindictus Viridian. **

"**I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley." **

Everyone snorted

"**I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level." **

"He's absolutely right" McGonagall sniffed

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop). **

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again. **

"**Just yer wand left — A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present." **

**Harry felt himself go red. **

"**You don't have to —" **

"**I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, **

Neville turned red as everyone snorted. It didn't matter though, Trevor was his pet and he would never feel any different about him

**yeh'd be laughed at — an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'." **

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell. **

"Ew"

"**Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand." **

**A magic wand…this was what Harry had been really looking forward to. **

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. **

"How attractive"

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic. **

"Wow Harry," Hermione said awed "Only really powerful wizards can feel that" harry turned red. He hated getting praise

"**Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair. **

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. **

"He's so creepy" Ginny said shivering

"**Hello," said Harry awkwardly. **

"**Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work." **

"How does he remember that?" Bill said. Ollivander was a strange man

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy. **

"**Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." **

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes. **

""He must be so old" Hermione said

"**And that's where…" **

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger. **

"**I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands…well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…" **

"He wouldn't have sold it" Arthur whispered

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid. **

"**Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again.…Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?" **

"**It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid. **

"**Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern. "Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly. **

"**But you don't **_**use**_** them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply. **

"Uhh…. Sure he doesn't" Harry laughed

"**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke. "Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?" **

"**Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harry. **

Ron snorted

"**Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand." **

**Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes. **

"It certainly is weird the first time" Hermione said nodding her bushy head

"**That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave." **

"Nope" Harry said

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once. **

"**Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —" **

"Nada" harry said again

**Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander. **

"**No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out." **

"N—"

"Shut up Harry!"

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become. **

"Weird bloke, he is"

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." **

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.**

"WHOOOOO!" The twins yelled

**Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well…how curious…how very curious…" **

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious…curious… **

"What's curious?" Neville asked

"**Sorry," said Harry, "but **_**what's**_** curious?" **

Harry snorted but caught himself. He realized that he never wanted to share the bit of information that was coming up

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. **

"**I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar." **

Everyone gasped and looked at Harry who just shrugged and motioned for Fred to keep reading

**Harry swallowed. **

"**Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember…I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter….After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great." **

"He really is strange

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. **

"I think everyone feels that way"

**He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder. **

"**Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said. **

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow. **

"it really does" Hermione said

"**You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid. **

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life — and yet — he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words. **

"**Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. **

"Because you are!" Remus said. He and Sirius were the only adults not bothering to try and fix Malfoy

"**All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander…but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry — I mean, the night my parents died." **

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile. **

"**Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact." **

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope. **

"**Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me….See yeh soon, Harry." **

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"He disaperated" Fred said

"Oh…" Charlie said realizing something "He never told Harry how to get on the train!" Just at that moment there was a loud bang, and Malfoy turned back to normal (to everyone's disappointment)

"That's the end of the chapter" George said handing the book to Luna


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX: THE JOURNEY FROM PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS **

**A/N: I'm really sorry for not posting! I've been so busy lately! Maybe this chapter will redeem me a bit? Anyways enjoy, and tell me what you think! I'll try to post again as soon as possible!**

**BTW I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS OR ANYTHING ELSE IN BOLD UNDERNEATH, IT ALL BELONGS TO THE QUEEN OF HARRY POTTER!**

Luna took the book from George and began to read.

**THE JOURNEY FROM PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS**

"How did you manage to get on the platform if Hagrid never told you Harry?" Bill asked

"Magic" Harry said mysteriously as everyone groaned and rolled their eyes. Little did anyone notice that Ron looked downright terrified about this chapter.

** Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. **

"No month was ever fun with them I'd bet" Ron snorted. These people were awful to his best friend and he wanted to say something to console Harry. The problem was he was never really good with feelings.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him — in fact, they didn't speak to him at all. **

"That's actually an improvement Harry." Sirius remarked turning to his godson "What's so bad about it then?"

Harry shrugged "You'll find out soon enough I guess" He hated how all his thoughts were shown in this stupid book.

**Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

Everyone look incredulously at harry. "Well it was!" Harry defended 

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in ****_A History of Magic_**** . **

"You mean you actually opened it?!" Hermione said proudly.

"Traitor" Ron muttered loud enough for everyone to hear

"Do you mean to tell me Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley that you've never read _A History of Magic_?" McGonagall asked her eyes narrowed "No wonder your History marks are so awful."

Malfoy sniggered as Snape sneered "Minerva I don't understand how you fail to notice that Potter and Weasley have no intelligence"

"Quiet you" Sirius growled as Molly turned a delicate shade of red.

"Gentlemen calm down" Dumbledore said "Ms. Lovegood please continue" he motioned to Luna.

**His schoolbooks were very interesting. **

"Only then!" Harry said quickly as the twins and Ron looked like they were about to have seizures. Hermione smacked both Ron and harry on the head.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. **

**"**That is disgusting" Ginny said wrinkling her nose

**Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first. **

"Awwwww" All the girls in the room cried. Harry turned red as he muttered 'women' for which he received a bonus smack on the head.

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, **

"Are you serious Harry? You left it for last minute?" Lupin said rolling his eyes

"I'm not Sirius," Harry said "He is" pointing at Sirus. Everyone groaned at the pun. "And I'll have you know that I do everything last minute" he added smirking.

"That explains a lot Potter." Snape sneered

"Can I continue please?" Luna asked sounding a tad bit annoyed.

**so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room. **

"True Gryffindor, that one." Fred snorted

**"Er — Uncle Vernon?" **

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening. **

**"Er — I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to — to go to Hogwarts." **

**Uncle Vernon grunted again. **

**"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?" **

**Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes. **

**"Thank you." **

**He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke. **

**"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?" **

"No they're illegal" Percy said importantly only to be shushed by his siblings. _No one appreciated authority these days_ he thought.

**Harry didn't say anything. **

**"Where is this school, anyway?" **

**"I don't know," said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket. **

**"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read. **

**His aunt and uncle stared. **

**"Platform what?" **

**"Nine and three-quarters." **

**"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters." **

**"It's on my ticket." **

**"Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother." **

"But Petunia knows!" Snape exclaimed but then realized he shouldn't have said that when all his students, former and present gaped at him. "Carry on ms. Lovegood" he snarled. Even Luna looked surprised

**"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly. **

"Bad idea mate" Bill warned

"It already happened" Malfoy sneered

"Shut it Malfoy"

**"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

"You know I don't think they should, it suits him" Luna remarked interrupting herself

** Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes — he'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry, and they had set off. **

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face. **

"That can't be good"

**"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine — platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all. **

**"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. **

"How horrible! Petunia should know, she's been with her sister!" McGonagall cried

**Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone. **

**He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose. **

"You know there should be a wizard passing guard placed by the ministry there. Just incase something like this happens" Arthur said thoughtfully

**Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl. **

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.**

"Please tell me you didn't harry!" Hermione said exasperated.

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying. **

**"— packed with Muggles, of course —" **

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. **

All the Weasley boys started to laugh, while Molly looked at Harry furiously.

"I never meant it as a bad thing!" Harry defended himself cowering under Molly's glare.

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him — and they had an ****_owl_**** . **

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

"Nosy git" Ron said playfully as harry shoved him

**"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother. **

"You forgot the platform number?!" Sirius asked surprised

"You try having 7 children and then see how much you remember, Black" Molly said quite red in the face.

**"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go…" **

**"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first." **

"Perfect, Prefect Percy" The twins chanted evilly.

**What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished. **

"Dun dun dun!" George said dramatically. By this time it seemed Luna lost whatever temper she had and also joined the smacking game. All the teenagers in the room looked downright mortified but none more than George. She smiled evilly, went back to her dreamy expression and continued.

**"Fred, you next," the plump woman said. **

"The plump woman" Molly snorted

"Sorry Mrs. Weasley"

"It's quite all right dear, you never knew me then"

**"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you ****_tell_**** I'm George?" **

**"Sorry, George, dear." **

**"Only joking, I am Fred," **

"I hate that joke" McGonagall and Molly said at the same time.

**said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.**

"Harry you're way too dramatic for your own good." Fred laughed

**There was nothing else for it. **

**"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman. **

**"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." **

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. **

The room was filled with laughter. Ron's ears turned alarmingly red as Harry braced himself, but Ron also joined the laughter.

**"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —" **

**"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded. **

**"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron." **

**"Er — okay," said Harry. **

**He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid. **

**He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble — leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run — the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — he wouldn't be able to stop — the cart was out of control — he was a foot away — he closed his eyes ready for the crash — **

"No, harry you aren't a pessimist at all." Ginny snorted

**It didn't come…he kept on running…he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts' Express, eleven o'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words ****_Platform Nine and Three-Quarters_**** on it, He had done it. **

"YAYYYY!" Sirius and Lupin yelled

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks. **

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again." **

"Oh, Neville" Hermione said as Neville turned red.

**"Oh, ****_Neville_**** ," he heard the old woman sigh. **

Neville and Harry snorted

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd. **

**"Give us a look, Lee, go on." **

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg. **

"What was that George?" Harry asked

"An acromantuala" George said wincing as his mom glared at him "please continue Luna" George begged.

"Gladly"

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried o lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot. **

**"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier. **

"_One_ of _the_ twins" George snorted

**"Yes, please," Harry panted. **

**"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!" **

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment. **

"That was very nice of you boys" Molly said proudly

**"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes. **

**"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar. **

"Oh no" Molly groaned

"So it begins" Harry added with an annoyed sigh. Snape's glare softened for a second, he noticed, but maybe it was just the light, he tried to tell himself.

**"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you —?"**

**"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry. **

**"What?" said Harry. **

**" ****_Harry Potter_****." chorused the twins. **

**"Oh, him," said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am." **

The room burst out laughing (except for Snape of course). Surprisingly even Malfoy snickered.

**The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door. **

**"Fred? George? Are you there?" **

**"Coming, Mom." **

**With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train. **

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying.**

"Harry…" Hermione scolded

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief. **

**"Ron, you've got something on your nose." **

Bill laughed. "Doesn't he always"

"You know I think it's a group of freckles" Ron said

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose. **

**" ****_Mom_****— geroff" He wriggled free. **

**"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins. **

**"Shut up," said Ron. **

**"Where's Percy?" said their mother. **

"Who cares" All the Weasley children (minus percy) said together. Percy growled and sank back into his chair.

**"He's coming now." **

"No run!" The twins yelled. Molly looked disapproving. Harry looked confusedly at Ron but Ron mouthed 'later'.

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts **

**robes, and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter ****_P_**** on it. **

**"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —" **

**"Oh, are you a ****_prefect_**** , Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea." **

**"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once —" **

**"Or twice —" **

**"A minute —"**

**"All summer —" **

"Good one" Sirius chuckled. Arthur was trying to cover up his laugh.

**"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect. "How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins. "Because he's a ****_prefect_**** ," said their mother fondly. **

"Also because they can't afford anymore" Malfoy sneered. And all the weasleys turned red. Arthur looked at his shoes.

"How dare you!" Harry yelled standing up and pointing his wand at the blond boy. This time even Dumbledore never tried to stop him. "Insult me, that's ok. But don't you EVER say anything about the Weasleys again! Stupefy!" he yelled. By this time Dumbledore had put up a shield and the curse was deflected.

"Sit down please Harry. And Mr. Malfoy please refrain from any more insults."

Harry looked livid but Ron muttered "He's not worth it mate, but thanks" All the Weasleys silently thanked Harry but he was still pretty angry. The Weasleys were the best thing that ever happened to him, how dare that ferret say anything so…"

**"All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there." **

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins. **

**"Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —" **

**"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." **

"Molly don't encourage them" McGonagall said tiredly

**"Great idea though, thanks, Mom." **

**"It's ****_not funny_****. And look after Ron." **

**"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us." **

**"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it. **

**"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?" **

**Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking. **

"We give you the master of stealth…" George started while making a drum roll sound.

"Harry Potter!" Fred finished as Harry turned pink.

**"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?" **

**"Who?" **

**" ****_Harry Potter_****!" **

**Harry heard the little girl's voice. **

**"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, eh please..." **

**"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. **

"Duh, of course he his" Ron grinned earning a second shove

**Is he really, Fred? How do you know?" **

**"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there — like lightning." **

**"Poor ****_dear_**** — no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform." **

**"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?" **

**Their mother suddenly became very stern. **

**"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school." **

**"All right, keep your hair on." **

**A whistle sounded. **

**"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.**

"Aww poor weaslette" Malfoy sneered. Ginny quickly cursed him quickly with God knows what, the adults had no idea what she used.

**"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls." **

**"We'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat." **

**"****_George!_****" **

**"Only joking, Mom." **

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved. **

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to — but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind. **

Molly smiled sadly

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in. **

**"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full." **

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose. **

**"Hey, Ron." **

**The twins were back.**

"Dun dun dun – oops no!" George cried as luna aimed another blow at him.

**"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there." **

"Sorry mate is was giant tarantula" George corrected himself

**"Right," mumbled Ron. **

**"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then." **

"Well now you have names" Tonks remarked plafully

**"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them. **

**"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

"no"

**Harry nodded. **

**"Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got — you know…" **

**He pointed at Harry's forehead. **

"Right after I told you not to" Molly sighed

**Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared. **

**"So that's where You-Know-Who —?" **

**"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it." **

**"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly. **

**"Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else." **

**"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again. **

"You're so tactless Ronald" Molly scolded

**"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him. **

Ron paled _the_ moment was about to come

**"Er — Yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him." **

**"So you must know loads of magic already." **

**The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

"You compared us to them" Ron said incredulously pointing at Malfoy

"I never knew!"

**"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?" **

**"Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

"Five" Ginny said. "And one sister

**"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. **

The five mentioned looked suspiciously at their youngest brother, surprisingly even percy, something was definitely off in this conversation.

**"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." **

Luna knew that this was coming up and tried to read as fast as humanly possible but the Weasley's were still left flabbergasted. "We'll talk later" Molly whispered weakly to her youngest son.

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. **

**"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff — I mean, I got Scabbers instead." **

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

"Are you ashamed by us Ron?" His father asked him quietly forgetting there were non- Weasleys in the room. The rest of the Weasley children, yes even Percy, were glaring at him.

"No" Ron whispered.

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up. **

"Disgusting" molly said quietly enough for only her husband to hear

**"…and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort —" **

**Ron gasped. **

**"What?" said Harry. **

**" ****_You said You-Know-Who's name!_****" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people —" **

Harry rolled his eyes.

**"I'm not trying to be ****_brave_**** or anything, saying the name," said Harry, "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn.…I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class." **

**"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough." **

"Except for Hermes here" Harry said pointing at Hermione; he ducked before Hermione could cause anymore physical damage.

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past. **

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?" **

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor. **

**He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry — but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. **

"What's a mars bar" Malfoy asked curiously. When no one answered he growled but Snape whispered "it's a muggle candy"

**What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts. **

"Awful lot for candy Harry" Lupin sternly but with a twitching lip

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat. **

**"Hungry, are you?" **

**"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty. **

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef.."**

"Oh Ronnie!..." Molly cried

**"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on —" **

**"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

Molly sniffed. Luna decided there was enough crying so she continued quickly hoping that there wasn't going to be anymore interruptions.

**"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten). **

**"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not ****_really _****frogs, are they?" **

"Yes they are harry" Fred said sarcastically, trying to relieve some tension "Wizards eat frogs didn't you know"

Harry raised his hands in defeat.

**He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him. **

**"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa." **

**"What?" **

**"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy." **

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

"Sorry sir" Harry said quietly. But smiled when he saw dumbledores eyes twinkling.

**"So ****_this_**** is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

"No that's why his names on the bottom"

**"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa — thanks —" Harry turned over his card and read:**

** ALBUS DUMBLEDORE CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS**

** Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**

"I wished I remembered earlier" Harry muttered to Hermione.

** Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared. "He's gone!" "Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her…do you want it? You can start collecting." **

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. **

**"Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

"Weidos" Malfoy muttered

**"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. ****_"Weird!" _**

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the Druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. **

**"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavor, they ****_mean _****every flavor — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once." **

"I did?" George said loudly "Why doesn't anyone trust me?"

"You should know the answer to that question already georgie." Luna said sweetly. Everyone stared, Luna was acting very strange.

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. **

**"Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts." **

**They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper. **

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. **

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

"Humph" Neville said playfully

**"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?" **

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!" **

"He hates me" Neville said sadly shaking his head

**"He'll turn up," said Harry. **

**"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…" **

**He left. **

**"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

"No you can't" Harry said angrily as most of the room glared. "You'll find out soon enough he said to the twins and all who never knew about wormtail"

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap. **

Ron looked green

**"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…" **

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. **

**"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —" **

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes. **

**"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.**

Ron burst into laughter as Hermione looked a bit hurt.

"Sorry Hermione" Harry said his eyes glistening from tears of laughter, soon Hermione joined in. Everyone else looked at them as though they were crazy but what else do you expect?

**"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand. **

**"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." **

**She sat down. Ron looked taken aback. **

**"Er — all right." **

**He cleared his throat.**

** "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." **

"You actually did it!" George chocked while rolling on the floor in laughter. Ron sank back into his chair

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep. **

"You actually expected it to?"

**"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" **

"Whew, you talk a lot

**She said all this very fast. **

**Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either. **

"Don't worry Harry, no one, except for Hermione, does"

**"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered. **

**"Harry Potter," said Harry. **

**"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in ****_Modern Magical History_**** and ****_The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts _****and ****_Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_**** ." **

**"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed. **

**"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad...Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon." **

By this time Luna was out of breath

**And she left, taking the toadless boy with her. **

"Toadless boy…" Neville said glaring humorously at harry

**"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. **

"Ron!" Molly scolded

"You really felt like that ron?" Hermione whispered. Ron went beside her and took her hand.

" I did." She looked at their hands and then at him "but not anymore" He smiled weakly. Hermione also smiled and harry scooted over so the two of them could sit next to each other on the sofa. He and Ginny were sharing a knowing look.

**"Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud." **

**"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry. **

**"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw ****_would_**** be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin." **

"Whats wrong with that?" Malfoy glared

Ron just rolled his eyes

**"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" **

"I was so stupid to not say his name"

**"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed. **

**"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" **

**Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school. **

**"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the ****_Daily Prophet_**** , but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault." **

**Harry stared. **

**"Really? What happened to them?" **

**"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it." **

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying. **

Ron looked at harry as if his best friend was crazy. Harry rolled his eyes and smirked as he saw his two best friends still holding hands. Rons ears turned read but he gave his best friend a look that plainly said 'shut up'.

**"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked. **

**"Er — I don't know any." Harry confessed. **

"The HORROR!" Sirius yelled

**"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world —" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time. **

**Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley. **

"Git" Harry muttered

**"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" **

**"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards. "Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." **

"Thinks he's important doesn't he?" Ginny said angrily.

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him. **

**"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." **

The room was filled with growling and glares but they refrained from cursing as Dumbledore put up another shield. He sighed as he thought that he would have to put up a permanent one sometime.

**He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." **

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

"Good, who would want to touch the git anyway?" Fred snorted. Malfoy glared but kept his mouth shut. He hated this hell hole.

**"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

"Good answer" Molly said proudly. Harry beamed, he loved it when molly treated him like one of her own.

Sirius smiled as he looked at his godson, he was happy to see that people cared about him even when he was in Azkaban.

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. **

**"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. **

**"**How do you dare to say those things Malfoy" Sirius growled as Lupin looked as if someone slapped him. Malfoy cowered as his godfather also glared at him.

**You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."**

More glares found Malfoy (if that was even possible).

**Both Harry and Ron stood up. **

**"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair. **

**"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered. **

**"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron. **

**"But we don't feet like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." **

**Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell. Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle — Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

Sirius roared with laughter. At least the rat was useful for something

**"What ****_has_**** been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail. **

**"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep." **

**And so he had. **

**"You've met Malfoy before?" **

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley. **

**"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." **

Malfoy glared at Arthur who glared back.

**He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?" **

**"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!" **

**"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?" **

**"All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" **

**Ron glared at her as she left. **

Ron gripped Hermione's hand again and whispered "Im sorry" Hermione smiled. She was happy that the moment she hoped for was happening so soon.

**Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down. **

**He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them. **

Arthur's head hung down. He wished he could give more to his family.

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately." **

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor. **

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" **

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. **

**"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" **

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice. **

**"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here." **

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

Everyone smiled. This moment they could all relate to.

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. **

There was a soft sigh in the room

**"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione. **

"Little Gryffindors! How cuuuuute!" George said in a squeaky voice

**"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!" **

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. **

**"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. **

**"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them. **

**"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. **

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. **

**"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" **

"I hope he does" Charlie snorted

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"That's the end of the chapter." Luna said putting the book down.

Noticing that the Weasley's were all looking at each other nervously, Hermione called out "I don't know about everyone else but I'm hungry!" (She thought that it was about time Ron talked about his feelings). "Lets go get some snacks." When Ron made a move to get up Molly said, "Stay seated kids"

Once everyone except the Weasley's had gone to the dining room Arthur rubbed his hands and nervously said to his youngest son "We have to talk Ron"

Ron looked nervously at his shoes.

"Yeah Ron" Bill started "Do we seriously make you feel inferior?"

"Sometimes" Ron said quietly

"Why?!" Charlie said surprised.

Ron looked up. "Why?" He asked with a bit of an edge in his voice. "Because of what you read. You guys have done everything, there's nothing left for me to do, no one can ever be proud of me! Even Ginny gets more attention because she's the girl! There's nothing special about me – "

"Stop right there Ron" Molly said sternly "Who said we are not proud of you? You are an amazing boy!"

Rons ears turned even more red.

"Yeah look at all the things you did with Harry and Hermione" Fred said with an uncommon seriousness. "You've done more for this war – " Percy shifted in his seat "than any one of us in this family." When Molly looked curiously at him he waved her off. "You'll find out soon enough I guess"

"I guess" Ron said with a bit more confidence

"Ron we love you exactly how you are, you are one of our sons and we love you all equally" Arthur said firmly. Ginny nodded in agreement, stood up and went to go hug her brother. Soon after the whole family joined into a giant hug, percy's betrayal was forgotten for the moment, not one eye was dry, especially not Ron's.

"I'm sorry everyone" he whispered clutching on to Ginny. "I don't feel like that anymore, I promise." He looked at his father "And just so you know dad, I'm not ashamed to be poor anymore, I realize how great of a family I have and I wouldn't want to change it for anything."

More tears were flowing down his and his father's cheeks. "I love you son"

"I love you too dad, I love all of you."

And for the moment it was just the Weasley family holding on to each other, nothing else in the world mattered right now except for each other.

If someone was paying attention, they would have seen Harry and Hermione at the door of room beaming with tears in their own eyes.


	7. Chapter 7:the sorting hat

**CHAPTER SEVEN : THE SORTING HAT**

**A/N: Hey guys I posted again! I know, surprising isn't it? Anyways enjoy this chapter and as always please review! Oh and like I've said many times before everything in bold and all characters are the work of J.K Rowling... **

Harry and Hermione left the family and went into the dining room as the Weasley's broke the hug. They missed the rest of the exchange of the redhead family. It took a while before the kids realized Percy was also included in the hug and they all were wrinkling their nose at him.

"Beat it Percy" Charlie growled "_You_ actually _are _ashamed of this family, that means you really shouldn't act like you're a part of it. Unlike you we all love our parents, trust them and appreciate them"

"I – "Percy started

"No you don't" Bill interrupted "You never did Perce. Ever since we were kids you always dreamed of doing big things and making a lot of money. I don't think I remember you ever saying thank you to mum or dad for anything!"

"Percy I appreciate that you were here for me" Ron began "But until you change I can not think of you as my brother."

"Same goes from me Percy" Ginny said and with that she left for the dining room to join the rest of the group. Bill, Charlie and Ron followed suit.

Fred and George looked at their older and grinned evilly at him "Ditto" they said and followed the rest of their siblings. Arthur looked at his third oldest son sadly and also left. Only a tearful Molly remained. Percy looked at her hopefully, maybe she would change her mind.

"Oh Percy..." She breathed crying. She started to reach out for a hug but at the last minute something cold passed through her eyes and she retreated and marched into the dinning room to join her family.

Percy sighed and sat down on the nearest armchair. "What have I done?" he whispered to himself. _They'll see soon enough_ he thought.

Half an hour later the group rejoined into the living room and Neville picked up the book.

"I might as well read now" he shrugged

**Chapter seven, the Sorting Hat**

Harry sat shocked. They were going to hear everything the hat said to him. They would realize the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin. Oh the shock on Snapes face would be priceless but what about the rest of them? Would they hate him now?

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had avery stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

"Very true Harry" Dumbledore chuckled as McGonagall glared at the old man

**"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.**

**"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."**

**She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. **

"A hundred times over" Ron chuckled "Maybe more"

**The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.**

Snape sat straight up. This was exactly how he thought of Hogwarts when he first entered the castle. Strange, maybe he and Potter were more similar than he thought, or wanted.

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.**

"Awwww, ickle firsties!" Fred cooed mockingly.

**"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.**

**"The four houses are called Gryffindor, **

Most of the room cheered. Draco booed.

**Hufflepuff, **

Tonks cheered. Draco snorted. Tonks glared back.

**Ravenclaw, **

Luna cheered in a dreamy sort of way.

**and Slytherin. **

The whole room booed while Draco cheered. He slouched down grumpily.

**Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. **

"But rulebreaking's the best part!" Sirius whined while McGonagall glared fiercely at him. "Come on Minny!" She only glared harder.

**At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.**

**"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggestyou all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."**

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, **

"How do you do that?" Ginny asked. Neville just shrugged and continued.

**and on Ron's smudged nose. **

"Hey! Enough with the nose already!"

**Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.**

"Not gonna work mate" Lupin chuckled "James never managed to do it"

**"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."**

**She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.**

**"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.**

**"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."**

"Fred!"

"Sorry mum"

**Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magicyet —what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment theyarrived. **

"Oh honestly! You boys have no sense!" Molly said exasperatedly. Harry and Ron sniggered.

**He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, **

"Why am I not surprised" George laughed. "Ow!"

**who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd**

**somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. **

The room roared with laughter. Even the professors had trouble not laughing.

**He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

"Do you ever think positive thoughts?"

"Nope"

**Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air — several people behind him screamed.**

"Oh my God what!" Molly yelled

"If she's gonna act like this for ghosts, who knows how bad she'll be after" Ron muttered to Harry.

**"What the —?"**

**He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk **

"Little fat monk" Tonks snorted

**was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —"**

**"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad nameand you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?"**

**A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.**

**"**Nick!" Bill said happily, he had always like that ghost.

**Nobody answered.**

**"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"**

**A few people nodded mutely.**

**"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."**

**Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.**

**"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."**

**Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair,**

**"**Seamus I'm guessing" Hermione said.

**with Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. **

"You know," Harry said "I never thought this stuff like this"

"Maybe the author just had a view of what you saw?" Hermione guessed. Just then there wwas a blue glow in the room and note fell on the floor. Hermione picked it up "Whoever sent us says I'm right!" She said smugly

**Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "Its bewitched to look like the ky outside. I read about it in ****_Hogwarts, A History _****."**

"You're probably the only person to ever read that book" Charlie remarked

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.**

**Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.**

"Who cares!"

**_Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it_****, **

Hermione snorted while everyone else just looked downright confused.

**Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing — noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:**

**"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,**

**But don't judge on what you see,**

**I'll eat myself if you can find**

**A smarter hat than me.**

**You can keep your bowlers black,**

**Your top hats sleek and tall,**

**For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat**

**And I can cap them all.**

**There's nothing hidden in your head**

**The Sorting Hat can't see,**

**So try me on and I will tell you**

**Where you ought to be.**

**You might belong in Gryffindor,**

**Where dwell the brave at heart,**

**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry**

**Set Gryffindors apart;**

**You might belong in Hufflepuff,**

**Where they are just and loyal,**

**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true**

**And unafraid of toil;**

**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,**

**if you've a ready mind,**

**Where those of wit and learning,**

**Will always find their kind;**

**Or perhaps in Slytherin**

**You'll make your real friends,**

**Those cunning folk use any means**

**To achieve their ends.**

**So put me on! Don't be afraid!**

**And don't get in a flap!**

**You're in safe hands (though I have none)**

**For I'm a Thinking Cap!"**

The room burst into applause.

**The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**

**"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."**

Fred chuckled.

**Harry. smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot;**

**Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.**

"Everyone would be sorted in that house then"

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**

**"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"**

No one noticed Neville blush a little.

**A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause —**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.**

**"**Whoo!" Tonks yelled =

**The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.**

**"Bones, Susan!"**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!" **

"Yes!" She yelled again

**shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.**

**"Boot, Terry!"**

**"RAVENCLAW!"**

Luna clapped enthusiastically.

**The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.**

**"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, **

Luna clapped again.

**but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, **

Sirius pumped his fist.

**and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers**

**catcalling.**

**"**BOYS!"

**"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. **

**"**Boooooooo!"

**Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.**

Draco and Snape glared at Harry while the room shook with laughter.

**He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.**

**"**Git"

**"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**

**"**Yeah!"

**Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.**

Sirius started to do some weird victory dance.

**"Granger, Hermione!"**

**Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

**"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. **

The horrible dancing continued as Hermione bowed to the cheering crowd.

**Ron groaned.**

Hermione glared at said boy

**A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?**

"That would never happen Harry"

**When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. **

Neville blushed.

**The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR,"**

"Sirius stopped that dancing you're burning my eyes, mate!" Lupin shouted but Sirius just danced faster.

**Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."**

**Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"**

**"**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO!" Malfoy glared at everyone.

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.**

"I would run away. Never show my face in public again" Ron snorted shaking his head.

**There weren't many people left now. "Moon"…, "Nott"…, "Parkinson"…, then a pair of twin girls,**

**"Patil" and "Patil"…, then "Perks, Sally-Anne"…, and then, at last —**

**"Potter, Harry!"**

Everyone sat up eagerly.

**As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.**

**" ****_Potter_****, did she say?"**

**" ****_The _****Harry Potter?"**

**"**Ughhh"

**The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited. "Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. **

Ron and Hermione's eyes narrowed. Harry never said the sorting was difficult for him.

**Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting….So where shall I put you?"**

**Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, ****_Not Slytherin, not Slytherin _****.**

"That's my godson"

**"Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all herein your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that **

Every, save Dumbledore, (yes even Snapes) jaw fell open.

Harry just shrugged and motioned for Neville to continue.

**— no? Well, if you're sure — better be GRYFFINDOR!"**

Sirius shuck his head and continued his dance but with a little less enthusiasm. Why hadn't Harry ever told him? He didn't care if the hat considered Slytherin, he cared that Harry didn't trust him enough to tell him. He looked around the room and saw that the same emotions seemed to be passing over the faces of all those who cared about the boy.

**Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. **

"Duh- he's Harry Potter!"

**Percy the Prefect **

The twins snorted.

**got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" **

Harry rolled his eyes at the twins and said "Am I an object to be won, just passed around like the house cup?"

"Sorry mate. That was before – "

"We knew you"

"We like you –"

"as a person"

"Now" Fred finished

Tonks rolled her eyes and whispered to Charlie "Do they always do that?"

"Always!" The teenagers yelled.

"Until – "

"The end!" George ended.

**Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.**

"They do that on purpose you know" Bill said rolling his eyes. Nick enjoyed passing through him whenever he got the chance.

**He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. **

"Dun dun dun!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Sorry mum"

**Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. **

"What colour is your original hair sir?" Sirius asked curiously

"Auburn, Sirius" Dumbledore answered "Although it started turning grey about 60 years ago"

"So that makes you...?"

"114, dear boy"

Sirius gaped at his old headmaster.

**Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. **

"Git"

**He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.**

"We should have realized something was off" Ron muttered to Harry "Who gets a turban as a gift from a vampire – wait what magical creature did he get it from?"

"Do you honestly think I had nothing better to do than listen to that idiot?" Harry muttered back

"Good point"

**And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. **

Sirius jumped at the opportunity to start dancing again. A massive groan engulfed the room.

**"Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw **

"Yay!" Luna shouted

**and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"**

Singing accompanied the dancing.

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.**

**"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. **

"Booo!"

**Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.**

**Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.**

"They _were_ ages ago" Ron groaned.

"You just ate!"

"Oh yeah, sorry"

**Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.**

"Nothing does please me more"

**"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!**

Laughter filled the room again. Good old Dumbledore!{"

**"Thank you!"**

**He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.**

**"Is he — a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.**

**"**Only a bit, Harry" Dumbledore said humorously. Harry turned beat red.

**"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! **

"Don't think that now do you?" Ginny growled at her brother. Percy just glared back, but it never seemed to be a very passionate glare.

**But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"**

**Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.**

**The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, **

"Never _exactly _starved him?" Molly growled.

**but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. **

"Idiots"

**Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. **

"What a pig"

**Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.**

"Yes the house elves do a good job" Hermione sniffed. Harry and Ron groaned

**"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.**

**"Can't you —?"**

**"I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."**

"The same thing happens every year" Bill remarked

**"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you — you're Nearly Headless Nick!"**

"Oh no... Not the best thing to say"

**"I would ****_prefer _****you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy —" the ghost began stiffly, **

"Who would actually call him that?"

**but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.**

"Harry why do you call people by their traits?"

Harry just shrugged.

**" ****_Nearly _****Headless? How can you be ****_nearly _****headless?"**

**"**Ew now he's going to demonstrate"

**Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. "Like ****_this _****," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. **

"Harry you're way to graphic for an 11 year old"

**Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So — new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable — he's the Slytherin ghost."**

"He's creepy" Ginny commented "I was walking down an empty corridor and it was just before curfew and it was pretty dark. Then out of nowhere the bloody baron appears and starts moaning." She said spookily "It was so freaky he was covered in ghost blood and his eyes were rolling out of their sockets..." She shuddered and the rest of the room followed her lead.

"He's not that bad" Malfoy defended, the usual sneer missing. He liked his house ghost, not at first but recently they became friends. The bloody baron was the only one who he could talk freely to. "I mean sure he's the scariest looking one, but he's damn useful if you need to find something. And he's pretty smart too" The trio gaped at Malfoy. Since when did he defend anyone? Since when did he actually care about anything that didn't involve his glory?

**Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.**

"Good to know my misery makes you happy, Potter" Malfoy said sarcastically. Harry grinned cheekily.

**"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.**

**"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.**

"He never tells even if you do ask" Malfoy sighed.

**When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream inevery flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding…**

"Stop it mate! You're making me hungry!" Ron whined

**As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families. "I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after**

**they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."]**

The people in the strange room chuckled.

**The others laughed.**

**"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.**

**"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, **

Harry smiled sadly. Neville didn't deserve all of that.

**"but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me — he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned — but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let**

**go. But I bounced — all the way down the garden and into the road. **

"Neville!"Hermione shrieked, Neville cowered "That's nothing short of abuse!"

Neville shrugged "It's normal in the wizarding world. Some people try to force it out of their kids."

"But still – " She pleaded looking at McGonagall

"She's absolutely correct, Longbottom" McGonagall said stiffly "I will personally speak to Agusta when we go back"

**They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. **

Arthur shook his head. Neville seemed like such a good boy, this was too much.

**And you should have seen their faces when I got in here — they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."**

"How nice" Fred snorted

**On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons **

"No!Really!?"

**("I ****_do _****hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult —"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing — ").**

**Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.**

"3 guesses who" Lupin said grinning at Sirius

"But of course, my fellow marauderer" Sirius said in mock seriousness ?(**A/N: No pun intended) **

"It occurred to me that this particular teacher was in fact Professor Severus Snape when the word greasy was mentioned"

They both started laughing and Snape gave them a death glare, then shot a glare at Harry.

"I'll have you all know" He sneered "That the fumes in my lab make my hair greasy. No matter what shampoo I use (sometimes I even wash my hair twice a day) it doesn't work." He said glaring at all his students.

The room was quiet and Neville decided it was best to keep reading.

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes — and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead. **

Snapes eyes narrowed, this had nothing to do with him... so it must have been Quirrell!

**"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.**

**"What is it?" asked Percy.**

**"N-nothing."**

**The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the teacher's look — a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.**

"That's a sort of an understatement mate" Ron said rolling his eyes.

**"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.**

**"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."**

Snape sneered at Percy who simply sneered back at his former professor.

**Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again.**

**At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.**

**"Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."**

**Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

"Boys!" Molly moaned rubbing her temples.

**"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.**

Ron snorted.

**"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.**

**"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."**

"What?!" Molly yelled "Why?!"

"You'll see in due time, Molly" Dumbledore answered calmly.

**Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.**

**"He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.**

"No I am" Sirius said grinning.

**"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. **

"You're all mad!" Sirius shouted "I just said that I'm Sirius!"

**"It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere — the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."**

"Yes the all mighty prefects" George snorted.

**"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.**

**"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"**

**And the school bellowed:**

And the room bellowed:

**"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,**

**Teach us something please,**

**Whether we be old and bald**

**Or young with scabby knees,**

**Our heads could do with filling**

**With some interesting stuff,**

**For now they're bare and full of air,**

**Dead flies and bits of fluff,**

**So teach us things worth knowing, **

**Bring back what we've forgot,**

**just do your best, we'll do the rest,**

**And learn until our brains all rot."**

The twins finished again a bit later in their funeral march tune.

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.**

**"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"**

"What are we, centaurs?" Fred mocked.

**The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt. A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.]**

"Peeves" McGonagall groaned. That poltergeist gave her more headaches than the Weasley twins and Marauderers together.

**"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves — show yourself."**

"Like that'll work" Neville snorted

**A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.**

**"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"**

"Now that will work" Harry said grinning.

**There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.**

**"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"**

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.**

**"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.**

"Ha-ha Percy barks like a dog!" The twins said gleefully "Your vocabulary's great Harry!"

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.**

**"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. **

"Percy, prefects aren't the rulers of the world" Tonks said rolling her eyes.

**Here we are."**

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.**

**"Password?" she said.**

**"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall.**

**They all scrambled through it — Neville needed a leg up — and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.**

The present and former Gryffindor's all sighed happily. This was home for all of them.

**Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase — they were obviously in one of the towers — they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed.**

**"Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get ****_off _****, Scabbers! **

"Stupid rat" Sirius growled.

**He's chewing my sheets."**

**Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once.**

**Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing**

**Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. **

"How dramatic... your destiny is to go to Slytherin" Charlie said rolling his eyes.

**Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and**

**heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully — and there was Malfoy, laughing at him **

"Good to know I haunt your dreams" Malfoy smirked

"More like nightmares" Harry said smirking. Malfoy sneered.

**as he struggled with it — then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold — there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.**

Everyone gaped. That was a very scary dream. Wait _till they get to ones with Voldemort in them _Harry thought bitterly.

**He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.**

"And that's the end" Neville said handing the book to Ginny.

**A/N: Ok there are a few things I need to add. **

**First, I don't know how old Dumbledore really is (so if anyone does please don't get offended or anything), in Half-Blood Prince the trio joked he was around 150 so I just pick a random number in the 140s. (Wizards tend to live for longer apparently so that's why he's pretty old)**

**Next, I'm thinking of doing another sort of emotional scene (do you guys even like those? Please tell me!), do you guys have any suggestions? **

**And lastly, is there anything you guys want to see in this story? Any new characters entering the room or something like that? **

**Ok that's all! Thanks for reading guys and I'll update for chapter 8 as soon as I can! **


	8. Chapter 8: The potions master

**A/N: Like I've said before all the characters and everything in bold is the work of J.K.R! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I have some answers to the reviews underneath! **

**Jedi Master Albus – Thanks for letting me know I've changed all the things you mentioned! (I swear I had agusta in my mind but I have no idea why I wrote Agatha)**

**bakazuki26 – I think I'll add Moody sometime in later books, he's just not that important right now. As for Tonks… well she's already there :P**

**Elements of Disharmony – Thanks a lot! I'm really glad you like this story! I don't think Hagrid will work because the reason I chose some of these characters is so that they can go back and change the future (I'm still thinking of how they'll do it but I guess I should finish the books before I think that far ahead). As much as I love Hagrid, I don't think he would make that huge of a difference, however I am considering adding him in the second book (still thinking about it though!). Thanks for the suggestion! **

**Magdalene Remington – I like the emotional scenes as well! I'm thinking about doing a scene of a discussion between the trio, Dumbledore, Molly and Sirius about the abuse Harry faced (But not too soon, maybe a bit later). As for the Grangers, I think it would be best for them to appear in the second book (that's when Hermione is focused upon a lot)**

**LM Ryder – Haha thank you for telling me the McGonagall problem J it's been fixed for the next few chapters! Glad you liked the whole Snape thing, and you'll definitely see some Snape bashing soon… **

**lollipop9066 – As much as I would love lily and James to be there it wouldn't work because their from 2 different times so it would become confusing. But thanks for the suggestion! (There are a lot of really good fics of the marauders reading the books!)**

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

** THE POTIONS MASTER**

Ginny picked up the book, cleared her throat and read

**Chapter eight, the potions master**

** There, look." "Where?" "Next to the tall kid with the red hair." "Wearing the glasses?" "Did you see his face?" "Did you see his scar?"**

"What are you? Some type of animal in a zoo?" Hermione said rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

** Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes. **

"Aww the good old days when we couldn't find our classes" Bill sighed

**There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk. **

"They can" McGonagall confirmed

**The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!" **

"The marauderers were the only ones he would listen to." Sirius said proudly while puffing up his chest.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Sirius" Fred grinned. Sirius's chest 'deflated' as he sank back into his chair grumbling. The twins snickered.

**Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing. **

"Stupid git" Ron growled once again. "We should have realized something was up. Why would he be there anyways" He added this last part in a whisper to Harry, who just shrugged.

**Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. **

"Again, Harry," George started

"Your descriptions are awesome!" Fred finished saluting the spectecaled boy.

**She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) **

Molly's eyes narrowed but she remained silent.

**and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick. **

"I kicked her on my last day!" Charlie said proudly. "But then Filch chased me out of the school with is broom" Charlie added chuckling.

**And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words. **

"No duh – "

**They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, **

"She's not _dumpy_ Harry" Tonks said rolling her eyes.

**where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. **

"It was very shocking indeed" Dumbledore commented remembering all those years ago.

**Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up. **

"It really isn't that difficult Harry," Hermione stated but then Harry quickly motioned Ginny to start reading.

**Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. **

"You've got to love that guy" Ron snorted.

**Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class. **

"Most scariest teacher at Hogwarts, she is" BIl muttered and McGonagall glared at the oldest Weasley who gulped.

**"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."**

"Ah…" Sirius sighed putting his head behind his head and leaning back against his chair "Good old Minnie threats" 

"Don't call me Minnie, Black!" McGonagall said sternly.

**Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile. **

"Wow she must really like you" Tonks breathed"

**The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; **

**"**A fraud if I ever saw one" McGonagall sniffed angrily.

**for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went. **

"Nah it was just stuffed with Voldemorts face, no biggie" Harry muttered sarcastically. Ron snorted.

**Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like him, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start. **

"Hey!"

"Sorry mate"

**Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. **

**"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge. **

**"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them — we'll be able to see if it's true."**

Snape sniffed. Someone had to be kind to his snakes, they were shunned everywhere, he might as well give them some preference. 

**"Wish McGonagall favored us," said Harry. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before. **

"I don't show any preference for anyone" McGonagall sniffed "Unlike some of my colleagues" she added glaring at Snape who just glared back.

Harry and Ron grinned at each other, this was going to be fun.

**Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps. **

"But it's normal though!" Fred whined.

**Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:**

** Dear Harry,**

** I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.**

** Hagrid**

"That was kind of him" Molly said approvingly.

** Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled ****_Yes, please, see you later_**** on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again. **

**It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far. **

Sirius glared at Snape suspiciously.

**At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry — **

"Huh?" Sirius said confused

"Let me finish" Ginny said angrily

**he ****_hated_**** him. **

"Oh" Sirius breathed but then started to glare at snape again. If the slimy git laid a single hand on his godson he would be the sorriest slimy git to ever exist."

**Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.**

Tonks wrinkled her nose. Snape had always been her least favorite professor. He scared her. 

**Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name. **

**"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new — ****_celebrity_**** ." **

**Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. **

"I don't see what's so funny" Lupin growled.

**Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels. **

Snape sighed internally. It was all an act of course, but he hated how he had to act like that.

**"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses.…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — **

A cold chill ran down the spine of all those who had Snape as a professor. This talk was the first in many of how he could kill them all if he wanted to.

**if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." **

"Nice ending, Snivellus" Sirius growled. This guy was so sick for bullying children.

**More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead. **

The twins snorted as Hermione aimed another playful blow at Harry's head.

**"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"**

"What?!" McGonagall screeched, "How's he supposed to know that? He only just arrived you should know that Severus!"

"If he had picked up a textbook he would have known" Snape sneered.

**_ Powdered root of what to an infusion of what_****? Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air. **

**"I don't know, sir," said Harry. **

**Snape's lips curled into a sneer. **

**"Tut, tut — fame clearly isn't everything." **

Sirius growled.

**He ignored Hermione's hand. **

**"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"**

"You're purposely picking on him!" Lupin said furiously as Sirius's face was turning redder by the moment. 

**Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, **

The twins snorted again

**but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter. **

"Did you know what it was Malfoy?" Charlie said testily at the boy who was shaking from laughter. That shut Malfoy up.

**"I don't know, sir." **

**"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. He had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in ****_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_****? **

"Exactly"

**Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand. **

**"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" **

"Severus," Dumbledore started "I would appreciate it if you could stop threatening your students, calling them dunderheads and picking on certain ones without reason. I am very ashamed, Severus, you know better than to let childhood grudges take over you" He finished with a lack of twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes Headmaster" Snape said glaring at the floor.

**At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling. **

**"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?" **

The teenagers burst out laughing, that was a good one.

**A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased. **

"Of course not he's snape, when is he ever pleased?"

**"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?" **

"Because you never told them idiot" McGonagall said to the surprise of many in the room.

**There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter." **

At this Sirius seemed to have lost it, and hit Snape with tha Bat-Bogey Hex. Soon there were dozens of bats that were flying out of the potion masters nose. It seemed like a pretty strong hex because the number of bats coming out of his nose didn't seem to go down. Sirius sat triumphantly back into his chair not bothering to take the curse off.

**Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. **

"Of course it didn't" Neville sighed remembering the events of that day.

**Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. **

"Poor Neville" Ginny said sadly at the boy who was turning red from embarrassment.

**Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. **

**"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, **

"Why don't you help him now and yell at him later?" Molly growled. She didn't like that this man was being so rude to students amongst whom were her children.

**clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" **

**Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. **

"Oh for Merlins sake," McGonagall said hopelessly. "Help him already"

**"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville. **

** "You — Potter — why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor." **

"What?!" Sirius yelled "How is it Harry's fault?!" But Snape couldn't answer because it seemed that the Hex hadn't worn off, and with this recent event it seemed to only get worse.

**This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron. **

**"Don't push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty." **

**As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week — ****_why_**** did Snape hate him so much?**

"Because he's a git"

**"Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?" **

**At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. **

**When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, " ****_Back_****, Fang — ****_back_**** ." **

**Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open. **

**"Hang on," he said. " ****_Back_****, Fang." **

Harry smiled. Fang was a vey good dog.

**He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. **

**There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, **

"That's the only part of Hagrids hut that I found a bit creepy" Tonks admitted.

**a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. **

**"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked. **

**"This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate. **

**"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."**

"Oh boy" Molly said tiredly.

**The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes. **

"Ew"

**Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git." **

"Hagrid is awesome" Fred said happily.

**"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her — Filch puts her up to it."**

"I'll bet he does"

**Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students. **

** "But he seemed to really ****_hate_**** me." **

**"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?" **

**Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that. **

"I smell a mysteryyyy!" George sang.

**"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot — great with animals." **

"I like Hagrid a lot too!" Charlie said happily.

**Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. **

"Well obviously he did"

**While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the ****_Daily Prophet_**** :**

** GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST**

** Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.**

** Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.**

** "But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.**

** Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date. **

**"Hagrid!" said Harry, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!" **

"Oh no" McGonagall groaned. So this is where it started.

**There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes this time. He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Harry read the story again. ****_The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day._**** Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for? **

"Harry you meddle way too much" Arthur said amusedly. Harry grinned back sheepishly. He had no idea.

**As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Harry thought that none of the lessons he'd had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?**

"You're way to dramatic for your own good" Ginny sighed "Anyways that's the end of the chapter. Who's reading next?" She asked as she put the book down on the tea table.

**A/N: That's the end of another chapter! Please review! I don't know if I will be posting again until the new year but if I don't Happy New Year everyone!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Midnight Duel

**CHAPTER NINE: THE MIDNIGHT DUEL**

**Hey everyone! Sorry I took so long... I hope you all had a very happy new year! Without further ado here's chapter 9!**

**Disclaimer: All characters and things in bold belong to J.K Rowling!**

"I'll read now" Bill said picking up the book.

**Chapter nine, the midnight duel**

"Oh please don't tell me it means what I think it means" Molly whispered dangerously, glaring at Harry and Ron. Both boys cowered under her expression.

**Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy. **

"I'd never believe it either if I never met Malfoy" Ron said darkly

Malfoy sneered. He was going to hate this chapter, he was sure of it.

**Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. **

"Still is more than I could stand" Harry muttered.

**Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday — and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.**

"They always learn together, Potter" Snape said rolling his eyes.

**"Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."**

"You don't know you'll make a fool of yourself" Arthur pointed out.

**He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.**

**"**Why wouldn't you. You are James's son after all" Sirius said proudly. Harry beamed.

**"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. **

Ron and Arthur turned deep red.

"Like father, like son" Tonks said choking from laughter.

**"Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."**

"Shut it Weasley"

"Well I was right... you suck!"

"I made the team!"

"You mean you _bought_ your way onto the team!"

"Boys!"

"Sorry mum..."

**Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. **

"As if" Sirius snorted "Did your blessed father never tell you there are muggle repelling charms at a hundred mile radius of your _manor_?" He added in a baby voice

Darco's cheeks developed a pink tinge as the Gryffindors in the room snickered.

**He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom. **

"Ronald Weasley! How irresponsible"

"Sorry mum" Ron said sheepishly. He had a feeling he would be saying that a lot in the coming days.

**Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to make the players move.**

"Stupid muggle games" Ron muttered.

**Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harry felt she'd had good reason, **

"Sorry Nev" Harry said ashamedly

" 'S all right"

**because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground. Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book — not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called ****_Quidditch Through the Ages _****.**

Fred snorted as George said "You can't _read_ how to fly" to a very red and embarrassed Hermione.

**Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail.**

Hermione harrumphed.

**Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table.**

"Git"

**A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.**

**"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things — this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red — oh…" His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "…you've forgotten something…."Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten **

"I never got the point of those things." Remus remarked

"Yeah they never actually tell you what you forgot, it just makes it even worse" Tonks added. Remus smiled. _This girl was really smart as well as nice._ He thought._ Wait, stop that. You're a werewolf; it's not safe for you to develop feelings for someone._

**when Draco Malfoy, who was passing them Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.**

"Again, git"

**Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.**

"After all these years it seems almost like I developed an internal alarm" McGonagall sniffed in an annoyed way.

**"What's going on?"**

**"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."**

**Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.**

**"Just looking," he said, **

"Just looking my foot" Charlie muttered.

**and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.**

**At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.**

**"**It sounds very nice" Luna said dreamily.

**The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground.**

**Harry had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.**

"We do need to invest in new ones" Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

**Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.**

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was part hawk" Fred snorted. Luna looked quite amused at this comment, but swatted him on the head anyways. It was fun, and anyways he was interrupting.

**"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."**

**Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.**

**"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"**

**"UP" everyone shouted.**

**Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, **

"Very good Harry!"

**but it was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, **

Fred snorted again but this time is was Hermione that swatted his head.

**and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.**

"I don't like flying" Neville muttered

**Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.**

"Ha!"

"Shut it, Weasley!"

**"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —"**

**But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.**

**"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle — twelve feet — twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and —**

Molly gasped in fear.

**WHAM — a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.**

"Hmm... we definitely need new brooms" Dumbledore said agian

**Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.**

**"Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy — it's all right, up you get."**

**She turned to the rest of the class.**

**"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."**

**Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.**

**"**Like a mother bird but without the wings" Fred whispered to his twin, grinning. Ah, there was the anticipated swat again.

**No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.**

**"Did you see his face, the great lump?"**

**The other Slytherins joined in.**

**"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.**

**"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought ****_you'd _****like fat little crybabies, Parvati."**

"Why would she think otherwise?" Ginny asked

"I heard the Patils and Parkinsons live in the same area. Maybe they knew each other from before" Bill answered

**"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."**

**The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.**

**"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. **

"Thanks Harry"

"Anytime"

**Everyone stopped talking to watch.**

**Malfoy smiled nastily.**

**"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find — how about — up a tree?"**

"You GIT!" Ginny growled.

"Leave it be Ginny" Neville said softly

**"Give it ****_here _****!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he ****_could _****fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"**

"Please tell me you didn't" Lupin said tiredly.

**Harry grabbed his broom.**

**_"No!" _****shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move — you'll get us all into trouble."**

**Harry ignored her. **

**"**What else do you do?" Hermione muttered.

**Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him — and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught — this was easy, this was ****_wonderful _****. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.**

"Don't encourage him Ronald!" Molly said sternly. Harry grinned.

**He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.**

**"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"**

**"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.**

**Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.**

**"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.**

"Oooh whatcha gonna do without the boy guards now?" Sirius said smiling wickedly.

**The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.**

**"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.**

**Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down — next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball — wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching — he stretched out his hand — a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.**

**"**Whoo!" Sirius yelled in victory. Then started his stupid dance again.

**"HARRY POTTER!"**

**His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. He got to his feet, trembling.**

**" ****_Never_****— in all my time at Hogwarts —"**

**Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "— how ****_dare _****you — might have broken your neck —"**

**"It wasn't his fault, Professor —"**

**"Be quiet, Miss Patil —"**

**"But Malfoy —"**

**"That's ****_enough _****, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."**

**Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it. He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. **

"Minnie has that effect" Sirius chuckled.

"Quiet Black"

**Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up.**

"You're being outwalked by an old woman?!" George asked incredulously

"Weasley! Quiet or it'll be detention when we get back"

"You can't do that, term hasn't even started yet!"

"Watch me" She said dangerously.

**Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks. He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep?**

**Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her.**

**Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. **

"Its always rainbows, unicorns and happy thoughts with you, isn't it?" Ginny said smiling.

**His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others becoming wizards, while he stumped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.**

Ron snorted but quickly stopped as he received a shove.

**Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.**

**"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"**

**Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him?**

All the present Gryffindors burst out laughing.

"What!? I was new!"

**But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.**

**"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry.**

**"In here."**

**Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.**

**"Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he**

**swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys.**

**"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood — I've found you a Seeker."**

"What?!" Sirius yelled happily "This is amazing! James would be so proud!" Remus nodded enthusiastically.

**Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.**

**"Are you serious, Professor?"**

**"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"**

**Harry nodded silently. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't seem to be being expelled, and some of the feeling started coming back to his legs.**

**"He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."**

Charlie snorted but had a smile on his face; he _had_ been a very good seeker.

**Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.**

**"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly. "Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.**

**"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him.**

**"Light —speedy — we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor — a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."**

**"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. ****_Flattened _****in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks.…"**

"It was a very good victory" Snape said his lip curling into a sneer. McGonagall did her most intimidating sneer back.

**Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.**

**"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."**

**Then she suddenly smiled.**

**"Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."**

**"You're ****_joking _****."**

**It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Ron what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.**

**" ****_Seeker_****?" he said. "But first years ****_never _****— you must be the youngest house player in about —"**

**" — a century," said Harry, shovelling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me."**

**Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry.**

"Must have looked like an orangatang" Malfoy sneered

"Shut it Malfoy"

**"I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."**

**Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.**

**"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. **

"Good job keeping it a secret."

**We're on the team too — Beaters."**

**"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."**

"Prancing like a pony actually" George said with a twinkle in his eyes.

**"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."**

**"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."**

**"**Oh boys" Molly said. She was getting very tired of this.

**Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. "Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"**

**"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.**

"I bet they really couldn't do much damage magic wise" Harry snickered.

**"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"**

**"Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, who's yours?"**

"Ron!"

**Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.**

**"Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."**

**When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.**

**"What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"**

**"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. **

"And we aren't _real_ wizards are we?" Harry said sarcastically

**The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."**

**"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"**

**"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.**

"Good thinking"  
"Sirius! Do not encourage them!"

"Sorry Mollykins"

**"Excuse me."**

**They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.**

**"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.**

Ron smiled weakly at his mother who glared at him.

**Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry.**

**"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying —"**

**"Bet you could," Ron muttered.**

**"— and you ****_mustn't _****go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose**

**Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."**

**"And it's really none of your business," said Harry.**

**"Good-bye," said Ron.**

"Boys" Hermione muttered shaking her head.

**All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital wing). Ron had spent all evening giving him advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them." **

"You don't learn that till fifth year" Tonks said.

**There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or**

**Mrs. Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today. On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness — this was his big chance to beat Malfoy face-to-face. He couldn't miss it.**

**"Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last, "we'd better go."**

**They pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, **

"Three guesses who, but you only need one" Sirius said grinning.

**"I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."**

**A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown.**

**" ****_You!_****" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"**

**"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy — he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."**

"As if," Ron muttered.

**Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.**

"Sorry, I won't interfere anymore." Hermione growled. "But if it wasn't for my interfering you probably wouldn't be here today" She added in a very low tone so only she could hear.

**"Come on," he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.**

**Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.**

**"Don't you ****_care _****about Gryffindor, do you ****_only _****care about yourselves, ****_I _****don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."**

**"Go away."**

**"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home**

**tomorrow, you're so —"**

"You don't get expelled for sneaking out" Fred said rolling his eyes.

**But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. **

"Uh oh..."

**The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.**

**"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.**

**"That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."**

**They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.**

**"I'm coming with you," she said.**

**"You are ****_not _****." "D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."**

**"You've got some nerve —" said Ron loudly.**

**"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. I heard something."**

**It was a sort of snuffling.**

**"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.**

**It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. **

"Oh dear this isn't going to go well" Sirius sighed.

**He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.**

**"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new**

**password to get in to bed."**

**"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."**

**"How's your arm?" said Harry.**

**"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."**

**"Good — well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later —"**

**"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody**

**Baron's been past twice already."**

**Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.**

**"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you."**

"I could give a demonstration" Ginny said evilly as she looked at Malfoy.

**Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.**

**They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.**

**Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. **

"He double crossed you didn't he?" Sirius said glaring at Draco. The latter sneered as Harry nodded while rolling his eyes.

"You little son of a b- " Sirius started furiously.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" Molly screamed breathing as heavily as an angry dragon "I WILL NOT HAVE YOU SWEARING IN FRONT OF MY CHILDREN!"

Sirius cowered in fear and sank back into his chair.

**Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.**

**"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.**

**Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak — and it wasn't Malfoy. "Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."**

"You're the biggest prat I've ever had the displeasure to meet" Bill said in the most disgusted tone he could muster.

**It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.**

**"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."**

**"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit**

**of armor.**

"Remind me never to sneak out with Neville again" Ron said grinning at said boy. Who rolled his eyes and shoved his fellow Gryffindor playfully.

**The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.**

**"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following — they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going — they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.**

**"I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.**

**I — ****_told _****— you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I — told — you."**

**"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."**

**"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you — Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."**

"No. Really?!" Harry said sarcastically. "I'm really not as daft as you think I am Hermione"

"I could argue that" Hermione countered

"Hey!"

**Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn't going to tell her that.**

**"Let's go."**

**It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.**

**It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.**

**"Shut up, Peeves — please — you'll get us thrown out."**

"Never gonna work"

**Peeves cackled.**

**"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."**

**"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."**

**"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know"**

"Peeves never does anything for anyone's own good" Ginny said rolling her eyes

** "Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves this was a big mistake.**

**"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE**

**CHARMS CORRIDOR!"**

**Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door — and it was locked.**

"Oh dear – "McGonagall said holding her head. She knew exactly what this door leads to.

**"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!"**

**They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves's shouts.**

**"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "**

**_Alohomora_****!"**

McGonagall started to rub her temples. This was not going to end well.

**The lock clicked and the door swung open — they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.**

**"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."**

**"Say 'please.'"**

**"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now ****_where did they go _****?"**

**"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.**

**"All right — ****_please _****."**

**"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!"**

Sirius, Remus and the twins burst out laughing.

"What?" Remus asked to the people who were staring at him like he was crazy or something.

**And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.**

**"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay — get ****_off _****, Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute. "****_What_****?"**

**Harry turned around — and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare — this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.**

"Oh dear, what is it?" Molly said frightfully.

**They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.**

"Oh Harry cut the suspense and tell us already!" Ginny said grinning.

**They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.**

Molly screeched in terror of what her son and "good as" children were facing.

"Mum can we have one please?" Fred said innocently

"Yeah it seems so cute!" George added in a mock child voice

**It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.**

**Harry groped for the doorknob — between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.**

**"**Really? I would have never thought of that" Fred mocked but sank back into his armchair as Molly glared at him.

**They fell backward — Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared — all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.**

**"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.**

**"Never mind that — pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry,**

"I really do wonder how she comes up with those passwords" Hermione said thoughtfully "I mean they never make any sense"

**and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.**

**It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.**

"Well surprisingly I did speak again" Neville said. "But then again, with you three this is a daily thing isn't it?" He grinned

The trio looked uncomfortable at the suspicious looks they were getting from the adults in the room and tried to stop Neville from speaking any further.

**"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally.**

**"If any dog needs exercise, that one does."**

**Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on.**

**"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."**

"Well obviously our Hermione's mind works differently" Ron said amusedly.

**"No, ****_not _****the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."**

**She stood up, glaring at them.**

**"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."**

**Ron stared after her, his mouth open.**

**"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you.**

**But Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed back into bed. The dog was guarding something…What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide — except perhaps Hogwarts.**

**It looked as though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.**

"And so the mystery begins" Tonks in a spooky voice, as she reached out for the book.

**As always please Review and thank you to all those who reviewed before! I haven't received any negative comments so far and I am very grateful. It's people like you, reviewers, that make me want to write! **


	10. Chapter 10:Halloween

**CHAPTER TEN: HALLOWEEN **

**Surprise! I posted again! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time! At the end of this chapter there will be a vote for something that may have amused some readers and scared some others :P Remember to R&R again!**

**Onestepatatime – you will definitely see some more depth to Draco's character soon (Hint, Hint) But you should remember that he is not going to change his views in one chapter. It is something that will take time to happen. Also as to redeeming him I don't think I will do that too soon. There is too much hatred between the trio and him, so it'll probably happen in the 4****th**** book. **

**Johnjohn – Yes Hermione does seem like that for now. But things will change in this chapter and you'll see why she was acting like she was. Don't think I'm trying to make her character like that (she's my favorite character in the series) she has her reasons! **

**alicewiggles – I'll definitely get to norberta! As for the howling I'm not sure what you mean… can you maybe elaborate a bit please? And for the dancing I think we'll have a vote! **

Tonks picked up the book as Ron tried to stifle a huge yawn. Soon after it seemed like everyone was yawning. There was no way really to tell the time in the time thin this room. There were no windows or clocks, the only way anyone could was if they had a watch. Molly checked hers and exclaimed "Oh dear look where the time has gone! It's half past ten already!"

"I think it would be wise if we finished with this chapter and all went to bed" Dumbledore said. He also seemed very tired. Tonks nodded and began to read

**Chapter ten, Halloween**

Hermione smiled, the first genuine smile she had since they started reading the infernal book. Harry and Ron noticed and both also smiled warmly at their friend, this was a very special chapter for all three of them.

**Malfoy **

"Perfect way to start of a chapter mate" Ron said sarcastically scrunching his nose in disgust.

**couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. **

"Oh boy" Remus said rubbing his temples.

**In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection. **

"It was none of your business" McGonagall said sharply.

**"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron. **

**"Or both," said Harry. **

**But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues. **

**Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. **

"Good"

**All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. **

**Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus. **

Hermione looked at her feet. She didn't want to sound like that, it was just that she had difficulty making friends in the past and she really wanted to be their friend but didn't know how. The result was acting like a stuck up know-it-all she guessed.

**All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later. **

**As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. **

**Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:**

** DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE. **

**It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, **

Harry sighed. He missed his old broom.

**but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session. **

**Professor McGonagall**

"Aw! Minnie bought ickle harry a broom!" George said in his best baby voice only to be glared at by McGonagall

"I didn't Weasley, the school did"

Meanwhile on the other end of the room Draco looked livid as he was muttering something sounding like "Stupid… Favoritism… Scar"

** Harry had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Ron to read. **

**"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even ****_touched_**** one." **

**They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it. **

"Get your slimy hands off the broom Malfoy" Sirius growled at Draco who glared back menacingly. All this stupid Mudblood lovers were getting on his last nerve, why were they all against him. Even Snape never defended him anymore, he thought sadly.

** "That's a broomstick," he said, **

"Really? I had _no_ idea! Thanks for the information though!" Luna said brightly.

**throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them." **

**Ron couldn't resist it. **

**"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus." **

**"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," **

The non-Weasleys all glared at him.

**Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig." **

"I'll show you twig by twig, but instead it will be limb by limb when I'm done with you" Sirius said in a deadly whisper. Malfoy gulped as Snape glared as his enemy daring for him to lay a finger on his godson.

**Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow. **

**"Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked. **

**"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly. **

**"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?" **

**"A Nimbus Two Thousand, it is," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added. **

"Stupid scar head" Draco muttered.

"What was that, Malfoy?" Ginny asked outloud

"Nothing" Draco said wincing.

**Harry and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion. **

**"Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team.…" **

**"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand. **

**"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry. **

**"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good." **

"Sorry Hermione" Ron said quietly

"It's ok" She answered, although the memory still did hurt quite a bit.

**Hermione marched away with her nose in the air. **

**Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch field where he'd be learning to play that night. He bolted his dinner that evening without noticing what he was eating, and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last. **

**"Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto Harry's bedspread. **

**Even Harry, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top. **

"Sounds perfect" Charlie said in a dreamy voice.

**As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. Held never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Harry of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high. **

"Good analogy potter"

"Thanks professor"

**Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling — he swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch. **

**"Hey, Potter, come down!" **

**Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him. **

**"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant…you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week." **

**He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls. **

**"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers." **

**"Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball. **

"Stupid muggle sport"

**"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?" **

**"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So — that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?" **

"What's basketball?" Bill asked

**"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.**

Bill turned red.

**"Never mind," said Harry quickly. **

**"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper — I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring." **

**"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box. **

**"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this." **

**He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat. **

**"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers." **

**He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box. **

**At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking his nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air — it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground. **

**"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team — the Weasley twins are ours — it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So — think you've got all that?" **

**"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off. **

**"Very good," said Wood. **

**"Er — have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand. **

"Not at Hogwarts" Dumbledore said.

**"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers —" **

**"— unless they crack my head open." **

"Yes then you _may_ have to worry" George said

"Yeah _maybe_, fifty, fifty chance really." Fred added sniggering.

**"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers — I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves." **

"Hey! We – "

" – Resent that!"

**Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings. **

**" ****_This_****," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages — I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. **

**"Well, that's it any questions?" **

**Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem. **

**"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these." **

**He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch. **

**Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on. "That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. **

"Sadly it won't" Harry said shaking his head

"What happened?" Arthur asked curiously

"You'll see tomorrow I guess."

**"I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."**

"Humph" Charlie said crossing his arms above his chest. Why did everyone feel he shouldn't have become a dragon trainer, it's his life.

** Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realized that he'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had. His lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics. **

**On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. **

"Poor Trevor" Neville said grinning.

**Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye). **

"Sorry mate"

"Its ok" Neville answered, though he did look a bit hurt.

**Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived. **

**"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest." **

"That must have hurt" Luna said thoughtfully.

**It was very difficult. Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it — Harry had to put it out with his hat. **

Remus and Sirius snorted,

**Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck. **

**" ****_Wingardium Leviosa!_****" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill. **

"I was not!"

"Were to!"

"_Wasn't_!"

"_Was_!"

"Boys!"

**"You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-****_gar_****-dium Levi-****_o_****-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long." **

**"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled. **

**Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, " ****_Wingardium Leviosa!_****" **

**Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads. **

**"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!" **

**Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. **

"Uh oh" Ginny said "When Ron's in a very bad mood, good things never happen"

**"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly." **

"Ron!" Molly said horrified "Is this how I taught you to act? I am disgusted!"

But Ron wasn't paying attention he was staring at his shoes in shame.

**Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Harry caught a glimpse of her face — and was startled to see that she was in tears. **

"Hermione never cries!" Ginny said gaping.

** "I think she heard you." **

**"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends." **

**Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of their minds.**

**A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet. **

**Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. **

Oh dear… this can not be good" Molly said shuddering.

**Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know."**

"Yeah we should ought to know" Fred sniggered

**He then sank to the floor in a dead faint. **

**There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence. **

**"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!" **

**Percy was in his element. **

Charlie snorted "I bet he was"

**"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!" **

**"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs. **

**"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke." They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm. **

**"I've just thought — Hermione." **

**"What about her?" **

**"She doesn't know about the troll." **

**Ron bit his lip. **

**"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us." **

Hermione smiled

**Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them. **

**"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin. **

**Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view. **

"Why isn't he with the rest of the teachers?" Sirius asked suspiciously as Snape glared at him.

**"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?" **

**"Search me." **

**Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps. **

**"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand. **

Sirius' eyes narrowed for a second.

**"Can you smell something?" **

**Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. **

**And then they heard it — a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed — at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight. **

**It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long. **

"Once again Harry your descriptions are amazing!"

**The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room. **

"But I thought the troll was in the dungeon" Lupin said slowly

**"The keys in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in." **

**"Good idea," said Ron nervously. **

**They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it. **

**" ****_Yes!_****" **

**Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop — a high, petrified scream — and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up. **

"Oh no" Molly said, deathly pale now.

** "Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron. **

** "It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped. **

"HERMIONE!" all those who did not know the story yelled (minus our favorite Slytherins of course)

"Its ok guys" Hermione said "I'm fine! This was four years ago!"

**" ****_Hermione!_****" they said together. **

**It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around, they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic. Harry pulled the door open and they ran inside. **

**Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went. **

**"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall. **

**The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went. **

Molly clutched onto Arthur for support.

**"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it. **

**"Come on, run, ****_run_**** !" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror. **

"Perfect time to be frozen Hermione" George said sarcastically. Hermione just shook her head in exasperation.

**The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape. **

The Weasley's all looked like they were about to faint at this point.

**Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: **

"Which is very normal, I assure you" Ron said trying to relive some tension, only to receive a shove.

**He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped – it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils. **

"EW!"

**Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club. **

"Bright ray of sunshine, you are" Bill said sniggering.

**Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand — not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: " ****_Wingardium Leviosa!_****" **

**The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble. **

"Well done Ron!" Charlie said thumping his youngest brother on the back who was turning redder by the moment.

Sirius and Lupin were grinning. James would have been proud of his son's and his friends' accomplishments.

At that moment Sirius decided to start his dreadful dance again.

**Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done. **

**It was Hermione who spoke first. **

**"Is it — dead?" **

**"I don't think so," said Harry, I think it's just been knocked out." **

**He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue. **

"What's glue?" Ron asked

Hermione and Harry burst out laughing. "It's something muggles use to stick things together." Harry answered

"Oh, but why not just use a sticking spell?"

"Because muggles don't have magic Ronald" Hermione pointed out, sighing.

"Oh yeah" Ron said grinning, he liked it when Hermione called him Ronald.

** "Urgh — troll boogers." **

**He wiped it on the troll's trousers. **

**A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart. **

"Has a heart of a lion, that one"

**Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind. **

McGonagall gave somewhat of a smile, not that anyone could tell though.

**"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. **

George and Fred snorted.

**"You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?" **

**Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Ron would put his wand down. **

**Then a small voice came out of the shadows. **

**"Please, Professor McGonagall — they were looking for me." **

**"Miss Granger!" **

**Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last. **

**"I went looking for the troll because I — I thought I could deal with it on my own — you know, because I've read all about them." **

The teenagers in the rooms mouths all dropped. But it was McGonagall who spoke.

" , I would have never had thought that a model students as yourself could lie to a teacher, and with so much skill as well"

Hermione's cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink.

"I should have seen through you three from the beginning. This is the start to many lies I presume?" She added rubbing her temples as she looked exasperatedly at her three students.

**Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher? **

**"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived." **

**Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them. **

"Which wasn't very had, I assure you" Ron said grinning and taking a bow. He then stopped at the look of his mother who still looked very rattled by this situation.

**"Well — in that case ..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?" **

**Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets. **

Snape sneered at Harry, who simply smiled back. Neville stared to snicker. Imagining his worst teacher doing that was quite funny.

**"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses." **

**Hermione left. **

**Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron. **

**"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go." They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else. **

**"We should have gotten more than ten points," Ron grumbled. **

**"Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's." **

**"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we ****_did_**** save her." **

**"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him. **

**They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. **

**"Pig snout," they said and entered. **

**The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. **

**Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates. **

**But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.**

"I hope you didn't make all your friends like this" Lupin said sternly. But there was a hint of proudness in his voice.

"Well that's the end of the chapter" Tonks said "I'm really tired, I think I'll head up now."

With that she left through the door that led out of the main room. Everyone else followed suit. Only Hermione, Ron and Harry were left.

"So…" Harry said awkwardly.

"We are screwed" Ron said bluntly.

"That we are" Hermione said holding her head

"At least it's not so bad for you two" Everyone gets to know what goes though my head now!" Harry said tiredly. Hearing this Ron grinned.

"Oh shut it Ron!"

"Well at least your parents aren't here Hermione!" Ron pointed out. "I'm probably going to be home schooled when all this is over, if mum stays to listen."

"Well…" Hermione started "There is one good thing that'll come out of this"

"Yeah, what?"

"Oh harry don't be so daft, we'll end up finding out how to kill You-Know-Who!"

"Oh. That. Unless, the story ends with him killing me."

"Well then we'll know how to stop him." Ron said firmly "You are not going to die on my watch"

"Thanks mate" Harry said quietly.

"Guys… there's something I need to apologize about" Hermione said. "I've noticed I haven't been the nicest during this reading. It's just those first few chapters made me realize how much of a weirdo I was and how much I failed at making friends. I always had trouble making friends before Hogwarts. Maybe it was because I tired too hard, I don't know. And now I realize how people felt when they were around me and it hurt a bit."

At this ron got up and put an arm around her.

"We really are sorry Hermione." Ron said quietly "But we never, ever thought like that again." He spun her around so she would look at him as Harry got up and sat next to his friends.

"Listen it all worked out. We would never have been able to do anything without you. We were so, so wrong Hermione." Ron added.

Harry put his arm around both his friends and pulled them into a group hug. The golden trio stayed like this for a few minutes. Unknown to them was that there was a pale blond boy standing at the top of the stairs listening to everything.

Draco Malfoy crept upstairs quietly as the trio was hugging. He kicked off his shoes and got into the pajamas that mysteriously appeared on his bed. "Stupid Potter, Weasel and Granger" He muttered to himself. But as he said it he never felt the passion he used to when he insulted them. Instead he felt something that could have been doubt? No, that wasn't right. Potter and the stupid mudbloods, bloodtraitors and half-breeds are all wrong. _Or are they? _The voice in his head said. "Shut up" Draco told the stupid voice. He turned on his back and listened to as the voice ignored his commands: _They have love and friendship. What do you have? _ "Power" Draco answered in a whisper, repeating the very words his father always told him "There is nothing greater than power" He added. But at that moment he wasn't so sure anymore.

**There's the end of the chapter! Hope you liked it and I hope some of your wishes came true!**

**Now for the vote: Who wants Sirius's famous dances to continue? I was wondering if I was the only person who found it funny? Please answer in your reviews!**


	11. Chapter 11:Quidditch

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: QUIDDITCH**

**Hey guys! Ok so based on the reviews I got, Sirius is not going to stop dancing (Well until someone forcefully makes him, that is)! **

**Disclaimer: Harry potter = Not mine! **

The inhabitants of the mysterious house in the middle of nowhere all started to wake up slowly. Molly and Arthur could be heard making breakfast downstairs and the smell of eggs and waffles flowed through the whole house. Soon after the long dinning table was filled with chatter and laughter. However, not everyone was laughing. Neville and Luna were sitting at the edge of the table and observing Sirius chatting with Harry with a bit of confusion.

"What's up Nev?" Ron asked from the other side of the table stuffing his face with sausages.

"Well, I was wondering why aren't you guys afraid of Black? I mean I never said anything yesterday because everyone said fine with it. But isn't he a mass murderer or something?" Neville answered, Luna and Percy nodding their heads in agreement. Hearing this, the chatter in the room quieted down and everyone looked at the stony expression on Sirius' face.

"He's not a murderer" Harry said firmly "He was framed by Peter Pettigrew." Then Harry went into the description of what happened that on that Halloween night.

"Oh" Neville and Luna said awkwardly. Percy just shook his head in disgust at the amount of lies he thought Harry told.

"Sorry mate" Neville said apologetically looking at Sirius.

"Yeah, sorry" Luna added.

Sirius shrugged "It's alright, you never knew." With this the chatter refilled the room.

When everyone was full they all assembled in their positions in the living room. It was now Charlie's turn to read.

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: QUIDDITCH**

"Yes!" Sirius yelled

** As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake looked like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin boots. **

Hermione snorted "I could only imagine what animal right people would do to him" When most people looked at her weirdly she shook her head and answered the unasked question "Muggles have Animal Rights campaigns. To stop animal abuse. It really is a good thing, I really thing it should be planted in the wizarding world as well, some magical creatures are treated so badly." She looked pointedly at Harry and Ron and coughed something that sounded like 'house elves'. Both boys quite suddenly became interested in the fabric on the sofa.

**The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. **

"Please tell me Gryffindor won" Sirius begged.

**If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship. **

**Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret. **

"Meaning that the whole school will know, that means" Bill said rolling his eyes.

**But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn't know which was worse — people telling him he'd be brilliant or people telling him they'd be running around underneath him holding a mattress. **

"That's horrible" Molly said disapprovingly.

**It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend. He didn't know how he'd have gotten through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She had also lent him ****_Quidditch Through the Ages_**** , which turned out to be a very interesting read. **

"Glad I came in useful for something"

"You were always useful Hermione"

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing" Hermione answered, grinning.

**Harry learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert. **

"Wonder if we can ever do that to Hooch" Fred wondered outloud, but winced at the looks on his head of House's face. "Only a thought, professor"

**Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it. **

"Hermione break rules?!" Tonks exclaimed.

"Never thought I would live to see the day" Remus added in mock faint.

**The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. **

"Oh no"

**Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. **

Sirius gave a suspicious look at Snape. The man was up to something, he knew it.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway. **

Sirius growled.

**"What's that you've got there, Potter?" **

**It was ****_Quidditch Through the Ages_**** . Harry showed him. **

**"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor." **

"What?!" Sirius yelled "That's not even a rule you slimy, good for nothing grease ball!" He then pointed his wand at Snape but Dumbledore got in the way.

"Sit down Sirius, Severus, we will have to speak about this"

"Yes headmaster" Snape answered. Surprisingly he looked a bit ashamed of himself. Only Dumbledore noticed though.

**"He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?" **

"None of your business Potter"

**"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.**

"Ronald!"

Ron just shrugged and glared at Snape who was glaring back.

** The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking Harry and Ron's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ("How will you learn?"), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway. **

Hermione rolled her eyes. She always knew what they were doing but it was fun arguing about it with them.

**Harry felt restless. He wanted ****_Quidditch Through the Ages_**** back, to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow. Why should he be afraid of Snape? Getting up, he told Ron and Hermione he was going to ask Snape if he could have it. **

**"Better you than me," they said together, **

"Thanks guys" Harry grumbled

"No problem" They both answered, smiling.

**but Harry had an idea that Snape wouldn't refuse if there were other teachers listening. **

**He made his way down to the staffroom and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. **

**Nothing. **

**Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. He pushed the door ajar and peered inside – and a horrible scene met his eyes. **

"Oh dear what!?" Molly cried.

**Snape and Filch were inside, alone. **

"That does not sound right" Sirius said.

**Snape was holding his robes above his knees.**

"Ewww" the teenagers chimed. This was not a good description.

** One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages. **

**"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?" **

Everyone's mouth fell open (Except for the trio, Dumbledore and McGonagall, yes even Dracos mouth fell open). "That means that he –" Arthur started but was hushed by the look on Snapes face.

**Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but — **

"He's gonna find you isn't he?" Remus asked weakly, still glaring at Snape. They should have know Snape would try to steal the package.

**"POTTER!" **

**Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped. **

**"I just wondered if I could have my book back." **

**"GET OUT! ****_OUT!_**** " **

"I wish he did give the book back" Harry said smiling. But no one else smiled, they were all too busy looking at Snape watching his every move.

**Harry left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. He sprinted back upstairs. **

**"Did you get it?" Ron asked as Harry joined them. "What's the matter?" **

**In a low whisper, Harry told them what he'd seen. **

**"You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him — he's after whatever it's guarding! **

"See even Harry agrees!" Tonks said.

**And I'd bet my broomstick ****_he_**** let that troll in, to make a diversion!" **

"You would lose that broomstick Potter" Snape sneered. He didn't like the attention he was getting.

**Hermione's eyes were wide. **

**"No — he wouldn't, she said. "I know he's not very nice, **

"Understatement of the year Hermione" Neville snorted.

**but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe." **

**"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," **

"Not anymore I don't" Hermione grumbled. As much as she hated to admit it, you couldn't even trust teachers anymore.

**snapped Ron. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?" **

**Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville was snoring loudly, **

"I don't snore!" Neville said indignantly

"Uh mate, you do." Harry said grinning

"Yeah you sound like a truck" Ron added trying to stifle his laughter.

**but Harry couldn't sleep. He tried to empty his mind — he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours – but the expression on Snape's face when Harry had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget.**

"Aw did it give ickle Harry nightmares?" George cooed. Harry replied by throwing a cushion at him.

** The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match. **

**"You've got to eat some breakfast." **

** "I don't want anything." **

**"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione. **

**"I'm not hungry." **

**Harry felt terrible. In an hour's time he'd be walking onto the field. **

**"Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team." **

"Gee, that helps"

**"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.**

** By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes. **

**Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean the West Ham fan **

"Dean the West Ham fan?" Ginny snorted.

"Hey don't judge!" Harry pouted.

"You're making it hard not to though" Ginny said playfully.

**up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. **

"What didn't he ruin" Sirius said bitterly.

**It said Potter for President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colors. **

"Aww that's nice" Luna said dreamily.

**Meanwhile, in the locker room, Harry and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green). **

**Wood cleared his throat for silence. **

**"Okay, men," he said. **

**"And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson. **

**"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it." **

**"The big one," said Fred Weasley. **

**"The one we've all been waiting for," said George. **

**"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harry, "we were on the team last year." **

**"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it." **

**He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else." **

"He's a bit obsessed" Harry explained to everyone.

"That is the second biggest understatement of the year" Fred snorted.

**"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you." **

**Harry followed Fred and George out of the locker room and, hoping his knees weren't going to give way, walked onto the field to loud cheers. **

**Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand. **

**"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. Harry noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth year. Harry thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him. **

The teenagers in the room laughed. Even Malfoy was smirking.

**Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing Potter for President over the crowd. His heart skipped. He felt braver. **

**"Mount your brooms, please." **

**Harry clambered onto his Nimbus Two Thousand. **

**Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. **

**Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off. **

**"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too —" **

"Ah… lee" Fred said with tears of laughter in his eyes.

**"JORDAN!" **

**"Sorry, Professor." **

**The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall. **

"He needed close watching" McGonagall said sternly. But Harry could have sworn he saw her smile a bit.

**"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve — back to Johnson and — no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes — Flint flying like an eagle up there — he's going to sc— no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle — that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and — OUCH — that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger — Quaffle taken by the Slytherins — that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger — sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which — nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes — she's really flying — dodges a speeding Bludger — the goal posts are ahead — come on, now, Angelina — Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — GRYFFINDORS SCORE!" **

"Whoo!" Lupin, Bill and Charlie howled, as Sirius started his pathetic dance again. Snape was glaring at the lot of them.

**Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins. **

**"Budge up there, move along." **

**"Hagrid!" **

**Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them. **

"Hmm… It seems as if the author has changed point of views" Dumbledore observed.

**"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?" **

**"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet." **

** "Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skyward at the speck that was Harry. **

**Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of his and Wood's game plan. **

**"Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be." **

**When Angelina had scored, Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off his feelings. Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch. Once he caught sight of a flash of gold, but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasleys' wristwatches, and once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannonball than anything, but Harry dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it. **

**"All right there, Harry?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously toward Marcus Flint. **

**"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the — wait a moment — was that the Snitch?" **

**A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear. **

**Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downward after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch — all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch. **

"It's so stupid when that happens" Ginny said "You may as well continue the game and get as many points as possible."

**Harry was faster than Higgs — he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead — he put on an extra spurt of speed — **

**WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below — Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, **

**"**FOUL!" The gryffindors in the room yelled.

**and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry holding on for dear life. **

**"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors. **

**Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. **

**But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again. **

**Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!" **

"What on earth is he talking about?" Draco sneered.

**"What are you talking about, Dean?" said Ron. **

**"Red card!" said Dean furiously. "In soccer you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!" **

"It isn't soccer, Thomas" Draco said plainly

**"But this isn't soccer, Dean," Ron reminded him. **

Draco and Ron both turned red and glared at each other as the others in the room snickered.

**Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side. **

**"They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air." **

**Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides. **

** "So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating —" **

**"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall. **

**"I mean, after that open and revolting foul…" **

**" ****_Jordan, I'm warning you_****—" **

**"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession." **

"I love this guy" Sirius said barking with laughter.

**It was as Harry dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past his head, that it happened. His broom gave a sudden, **

**For a split second, he thought he was going to fall. He gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and knees. He'd never felt anything like that. frightening lurch. **

"What?!" Lupin said. "That's a new broom though, and it's not an ordinary broom either!"

**It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. **

**"**Its been tampered with" Remus said holding his head in his hands. He then glared at Snape, he had a pretty good idea who was responsible for this.

**Harry tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goal-posts — he had half a mind to ask Wood to call time-out — and then he realized that his broom was completely out of his control. He couldn't turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air, and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated him. **

"Oh dear" Luna said quietly.

**Lee was still commentating. **

**"Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, Professor — Slytherins score — A no…" **

**The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went. **

**"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom…but he can't have.…" **

**Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand. **

Molly gripped her husband's hand as hard as she could.

**"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered. **

**"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic — no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand." At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd. **

"Always the smart one"

**"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, gray-faced. **

**"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape — look." **

"Why you!" Sirius yelled jumping to his feet. Remus had to hold Sirius back "Sirius you can't do anything now, it already happened" Although Remus himself had half a mind to beat the slimy git to a pulp.

**Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering nonstop under his breath. **

Everyone glared at Snape

**"He's doing something — jinxing the broom," said Hermione. **

**"What should we do?" **

**"Leave it to me." **

**Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Ron turned the binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good – every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing. **

"Slytherins really are a bunch of slimy cold hearted idiots" Ron said glaring at the Slytherins in the room.

**"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately. **

**Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood, and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front. Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand, and whispered a few, well-chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand onto the hem of Snape's robes. **

"So it was you Granger" Snape said glaring at her

"Yeah" Hermione shrugged, trying to seem as if she didn't care. It was lucky though that she knocked Quirrell over. It seemed as if Ron and Harry thought so too by the looks on their faces.

**It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row — Snape would never know what had happened. **

"Tough luck Hermione" Neville said grinning

**It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom. **

**"Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes. **

Neville covered his face in his hands. Was he really that wimpy?

**Harry was speeding toward the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick — he hit the field on all fours — coughed — and something gold fell into his hand. **

"Oh my got that is so lucky!" Sirius yelled starting to dance yet again.

**"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion. **

Sirius started singing on top of his dancing. That was really scarring everyone for life. It seemed as if Snape was losing his patience because he stealthily took out his wand and whispered 'Tarantallegra". Sirius' legs started to move strangely and he did the countercurse, but sat back down taking this as a hint.

**"He didn't ****_catch_**** it, he nearly ****_swallowed_**** it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference — Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the results — Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Harry heard none of this, though. He was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Ron and Hermione. **

**"It was Snape," Ron was explaining, "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you." **

**"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?" **

"Because he is a greasy slimy git" Sirius said plainly. Snape glared at his enemy.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the truth. **

** "I found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding." **

**Hagrid dropped the teapot. **

**"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said. **

"It has a name?!" Charlie yelled

"And _Fluffy_ on top of everything else?" Bill added

"It's like trying to call a kneazle _Killer"_ Ron snorted.

**" ****_Fluffy_****?" **

**"Yeah — he's mine — bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year — I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the —" **

"He really doesn't know when to be quiet does he?" Percy commented, receiving glares from his family for daring to speak.

**"Yes?" said Harry eagerly. **

**"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is." **

**"But Snape's trying to ****_steal_**** it." **

**"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort." **

**"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione. **

"Exactly"

**The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape. **

"Well Harry is like the brother I never had. Of course I would care if someone was trying to kill you"

Harry smiled. "Yeah I feel the same way about you Hermione, but with you as the sister that is" They both smiled at each other. And Hermione gave him a hug. They didn't notice, however, the look of relief that flooded Ron's face

**"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!" **

**"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh — yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel —" **

"Hagrid!" McGonagall yelled. "Dumbledore, he really needs to told to keep secret properly." She added sternly

"Yes I know Minevra, but he means well"

**"Aha!" said Harry, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?" **

**Hagrid looked furious with himself.**

"As he should be" Molly added.

"Well that's the end of the chapter," Charlie said putting the book down. "Who's going to read next?"

**Well that's another chapter complete! I hope you're all proud of me for finishing the chapter so soon! Im so happy, I have 126 followers! if you could all remember to review I'd be even more happy! **


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